The ranking would surprise many people who often think South Africa and Nigeria are the richest countries in Africa. Wealth, it turns out, is not just about the amount of dollars you receive or have stashed in foreign reserves, it also has do with the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP).
This seems to make sense. What if one man has all the money and everyone else is hungry, broke, busted and depressed?
According to the International Monetary Fund‘s ranking of the African nations by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), Egypt is the richest country in Africa, followed by Nigeria and then South Africa.
The ranking does not take into account the GDP (PPP) of the dependent or integral territories of the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Yemen and Malta within the African continent.
For the purpose of the data published by the International Monetary Fund, the GDP (PPP) Zanzibar is included as part of that of Tanzania, the GDP (PPP) of Western Sahara is included as part of that of Morocco, and the GDP (PPP) of Somaliland is included as part of that of Somalia, which will anger many many many people.
The full ranking can be found below.
List
| Region Rank | Country | Peak value of GDP (PPP) as of 2019 Billions of International dollars | Peak Year |
| — | Africa | 6,906.222 | 2018 |
| 1 | Egypt | 1,391.734 | 2019 |
| 2 | Nigeria | 1,214.827 | 2019 |
| 3 | South Africa | 813.100 | 2019 |
| 4 | Algeria | 684.649 | 2019 |
| 5 | Morocco | 330.381 | 2019 |
| 6 | Ethiopia | 240.705 | 2019 |
| 7 | Ghana | 211.127 | 2019 |
| 8 | Angola | 203.763 | 2019 |
| 9 | Kenya | 190.970 | 2019 |
| 10 | Libya | 187.796 | 2010 |
| 11 | Tanzania | 186.060 | 2019 |
| 12 | Sudan | 177.678 | 2018 |
| 13 | Tunisia | 150.834 | 2019 |
| 14 | Côte d’Ivoire | 117.030 | 2019 |
| 15 | Uganda | 104.893 | 2019 |
| 16 | Cameroon | 101.124 | 2019 |
| 17 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 77.441 | 2019 |
| 18 | Zambia | 76.520 | 2019 |
| 19 | Senegal | 47.335 | 2018 |
| 20 | Mali | 44.028 | 2018 |
| 21 | Madagascar | 42.705 | 2018 |
| 22 | Botswana | 41.556 | 2018 |
| 23 | Burkina Faso | 38.794 | 2018 |
| 24 | Mozambique | 38.679 | 2018 |
| 25 | Gabon | 38.582 | 2018 |
| 26 | Equatorial Guinea | 37.689 | 2012 |
| 27 | Zimbabwe | 35.565 | 2018 |
| 28 | South Sudan | 35.254 | 2011 |
| 29 | Chad | 30.563 | 2015 |
| 30 | Republic of the Congo | 29.749 | 2018 |
| 31 | Mauritius | 29.187 | 2018 |
| 32 | Guinea | 28.637 | 2018 |
| 33 | Benin | 27.471 | 2018 |
| 34 | Namibia | 27.444 | 2018 |
| 35 | Rwanda | 26.997 | 2018 |
| 36 | Malawi | 23.682 | 2018 |
| 37 | Niger | 23.475 | 2018 |
| 38 | Somalia | 19.568 | 2018 |
| 39 | Mauritania | 18.119 | 2018 |
| 40 | Togo | 13.886 | 2018 |
| 41 | Sierra Leone | 12.619 | 2014 |
| 42 | Eswatini (Swaziland) | 11.496 | 2018 |
| 43 | Eritrea | 9.997 | 2018 |
| 44 | Burundi | 8.184 | 2018 |
| 45 | Lesotho | 7.231 | 2018 |
| 46 | Liberia | 6.440 | 2018 |
| 47 | Central African Republic | 4.293 | 2012 |
| 48 | Cape Verde | 3.983 | 2018 |
| 49 | Djibouti | 3.964 | 2018 |
| 50 | Gambia | 3.884 | 2018 |
| 51 | Guinea-Bissau | 3.385 | 2018 |
| 52 | Seychelles | 2.873 | 2018 |
| 53 | Comoros | 1.384 | 2018 |
| 54 | São Tomé and Príncipe | 0.726 | 2018 |
