Kenyans Among The Wealthiest In Africa, Zimbabweans the poorest

Kenyans are among the wealthiest people in Africa in per capita terms according to a new study.According to this year's Africa Wealth Report, the average wealth of a person living in Mauritius is Sh2.65 million ($25,700) while that of a South African is around Sh1.2 million ($11,300).Kenya ranked at position 9 with a wealth per capita of Sh227,000 ($2,200).Tanzania and Uganda came in 13th and 15th position with about Sh123,000 and Sh103,000 respectively.The poorest in the continent are Zimbabweans who had only KSh20,000 ($200) according to the study.The April 2017 report defines wealth per capita as the average wealth of a person living in each country, excluding what the government lays claim to.The study compiled data from last year.According to the researchers, they preferred to use wealth per capita rather than gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. This is because GDP counts certain items more than once and disregards income levels in a country.“GDP ignores the efficiency of the local banking sector and the local stock market at retaining wealth in a country,” according to the report.“In certain countries, a large portion of GDP flows to the government and, therefore, has little impact on private wealth creation – for example in Zimbabwe.”According to the researchers, they preferred to use wealth per capita rather than gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. This is because GDP counts certain items more than once and disregards income levels in a country.“GDP ignores the efficiency of the local banking sector and the local stock market at retaining wealth in a country,” according to the report.“In certain countries, a large portion of GDP flows to the government and, therefore, has little impact on private wealth creation – for example in Zimbabwe.”