Why does Africa
have so few
billionaires?
Key questions:
What are the challenges facing countries in
generating wealth?
What factors might be responsible for the lack
of billionaires in Africa?
Why does Africa have so few billionaires? - Starter
If wealthy regions like North America and Europe have the most
billionaires, then does this mean Africa with only five billionaires is
generally poorer?
Why might this be the case that some regions are poorer than others?
• Look at the environmental challenges
photographs
• Do you think any of these photo help to explain
why some regions of the world lag behind others
in the number of billionaires and wealth that they
are able to create?
• Think about the natural environment - climate,
living things, water, other natural resources,
disasters. Are there any other factors? Think
historical, social and economic.
Environmental challenges?
• These images were actually all taken in
the USA - the richest country in the world
with over 400 billionaires!
• So although environmental factors can
affect generation of wealth, it is often other
political and historical factors that have the
largest impact on a regions wealth and
development.
Photos of Africa
Africa’s Challenge
• You know from what you have studied so far that Africa
has only five resident billionaires. But environmental
reason alone cannot explain the lack of wealth. In small
groups choose a challenge from the following list:
• tsetse fly area (malaria)
• earthquakes and volcanoes
• droughts
• flood
• War
• HIV/AIDS
• Landlocked
• Political corruption
Africa’s Challenge
• Using the risky world interactive and the Africa map identify which
countries face your chosen challenge and brainstorm reasons why
this could prevent the country becoming wealthier.
• Jargon buster! On the Risky World map Tectonic hazards include
earthquake and volcanoes; hydrological hazards include floods,
cyclones and landslides.
• In your groups produce a presentation on your chosen challenge:
• Fully explain how the challenge causes African people to struggle.
• Highlight areas affected and the issues the challenge is causing.
• Do you think these challenges can be overcome with the right
leadership and / or investment and supportive policies from other
nations?
Your presentation should be between 3 to 5 minutes and have visual
aids so that your audience can clearly identify with the challenge
that Africa faces.
Plenary
• If you look at the billionaires by region again you can see that Egypt
and South Africa are the only countries in Africa home to billionaires.
•
Egypt and South Africa are "anomalies" due to their billionaires they do not fit in with the general trend in Africa.
•
What factors might explains this?
•
What is special or unusual about these countries (including their
position on the map) from what you have studied in this module so
far?
• Egypt's main revenues come from tourism and traffic that goes
through the Suez Canal.
• Egypt has a developed energy market based on coal, oil, natural
gas, and hydro power
• South Africa has experienced a different history from other nations in
Africa because of early immigration from Europe and the strategic
importance of the Cape Sea Route.