The richest countries of Africa are South Africa and Egypt.
As per 2009
statistics South Africa’s GDP (purchasing power parity) was US$488.6 billion.
Compared to the rest of countries, the country ranked 26th in the world.
Recession decreased the volume slightly.
The GDP in 2008 and 2007 was $498.1 billion and $483.1 billion
respectively. Egypt GDP was almost similar at $470.4 billion in 2009, $450.1
billion in 2008 and $419.9 billion in 2007.
On purchasing power parity, Egypt
ranked 27th in the world. If one takes out the GDP of these two regions, the
total GDP is less than a trillion when compared to Italy.
Africa’s per capita GDP is extremely low and that is why it is the
poorest continent. The weakest economies in Africa are Somalia and Malawi with
as low as $600 and $596 per capita GDP.
The Africa economy requires an industrial impetus to bring it out of
poverty as it is the store of some of the rarest metals and precious stones.
Africa has almost 90 per cent of the world’s cobalt, 50 per cent of gold 90 per
cent of platinum, 70 per cent of tantalite, 98 per cent of chromium, 64 per
cent of manganese and 33 per cent of uranium.
Africa is the world’s second largest continent and it has the second
largest population after Asia. The African continent covers an area of 30.2
million square km which is equivalent to almost 20.4 per cent of the total land
area.
Africa is surrounded by Mediterranean Sea, Suez Canal and the Red Sea,
Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and Sinai Peninsula. Africa has 54 states,
including Madagascar and various island groups such as ‘Sahrawi’
The Africa economy is as diverse as the region. The southern parts are
prosperous whereas the other parts struggle for stability. African economy is
an extreme one, however, due to the presence of natural resources, has the
potential to grow at a fast pace.
Source: www.economywatch.com
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