Africa versus the World

Africa’s millionaires have performed relatively poorly over the past decade (2013 to 2023) when compared to the rest of the world. Performance has been constrained by poor growth in the three largest African markets, namely South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria.

The JSE All Share Index, which makes up well over half of Africa’s listed company holdings, was up by a healthy 65% in local currency (ZAR, rand) terms. However, when measured in USD (dollar) terms, the index was down by 5%. This was driven by a 43% depreciation of the rand versus the dollar — the rand went from ZAR 10.50/USD at the end of 2013 to ZAR 18.30/USD at the end of 2023.

Currencies in most other African countries also performed poorly versus the USD over the 10-year period, with dramatic depreciations of over 75% recorded in Nigeria, Egypt, Angola, and Zambia.

Sources

• MSCI World Equity Index, DJIA, and S&P 500 — Markets Insider.
• JSE All Share Index, Gold Price, Oil Price, and USD/ZAR — Daily Investor.
• Millionaire growth rates — New World Wealth.