Over the past decade, the number of middleclass consumers in Africa has expanded more than 60 percent. It is estimated that by 2030, there will be more than half a billion middle-class consumers in Africa. However, it has to be noted that more than 60 percent current middle class have just $2 to $4 to spend per day.

Sharp geographical variations persist. North Africans top the rankings. In sub-Saharan Africa, the better the governance, the bigger a country’s middle-income bulge. In Botswana, Namibia, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa, almost half the populations earn more than $2 per day, whereas in the worst-governed countries, less than a fifth have managed to cross that barrier. About 100,000 of the richest Africans had a collective net worth totaling 60 percent of the continent’s gross domestic product.

The continent’s prospects have proved alluring for Walmart Stores, Inc., which has agreed to pay roughly $2.4 billion to buy 51 percent of South Africa’s Massmart Holdings Ltd., with plans to use the discount retailer as a foothold for continental expansion. Yum Brands, Inc., recently said it wants to double its KFC outlets in the next few years to 1,200. In South Africa, Google and Microsoft Corp. are behind efforts to fund entrepreneurs, with the hope that seeding African technology firms will help grow their own businesses. Many Africans are joining the ranks of the world’s consumers. Rising consumption will create more demand for local products, sparking a cycle of increasing domestic growth.

Questions

1. The African Development Bank says a third of Africans are now “middle-class,” defined as having between $2 and $20 to spend a day. Does $2 a day really mean middle-class?

2. Is Africa an emergent opportunity for the future?