About Africa #25: Roaring Middle-class
The key driving force behind Africa's fast economic growth
In the last issue, we featured ISS Futures Africa’s report on Upper Middle Class with a population of 78 million as of 2023. There’s also the Lower Middle Class counted at 769 million. These two groups combined are forecast to reach 1.2 billion by 2043.
This rapid growth is also expected to diminish extreme poverty in Africa.
Moreover, the growing middle class is a key driving force in African countries’ rising GDP:
GDP Growth in Africa versus the world
Naturally, as people are lifted from poverty, they increase their purchasing power, and this is now also one of the main motivations for foreign investors to invest in Africa.
Why Africa Is One of the Fastest Growing Consumer Markets in the World
For over a century, foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa was solely centered around the extraction and export of natural resources.
Today, the momentum has shifted, and global investors are going to Africa more for its consumer-based power rather than for its physical properties. As such, mining and petroleum now account for a minority share of long-term capital inflows. Investors are focused on retailing, services, and telecommunications.
Africa ascendant middle class: A catalyst for economic transformation
The expansion of the middle class in Southern Africa represents a pivotal moment in the region’s economic evolution, marking an era of significant growth and transformation.
5 Projects That Will Make Kenya An Upper Middle Income Country
We would be disillusioned to believe that the situation in Africa is all rosy. Yes, people are moving into the middle class, but the struggles are real. Here’s an individual story that’s moving, inspiring, but also heartbreaking in some respect:
The Sisyphean struggles of Africa’s aspirant middle class
At the same time, it is the Middle Class that’s wanting and demanding political change:
Understanding Africa’s Middle Class
Idealized as political actors, middle classes were turned into fictitious spearheads of democratization and opponents of corrupt regimes.
Below is a map of African countries, color coded based on income level of each country, and after that is a list of Top 20 Most Developed Countries in Africa (2024). You’ll see how this list matches with the countries in the Upper Middle Income and Lower Middle Income category.
Plus, a map detailing each country’s GDP, which as you can see, also pretty much tracks the Lower and Upper Middle Income nations.
