Seven of the 20 most unequal countries in the world are in Africa, an income study by Brookings Institute reveals, with Swaziland ranking the world’s most unequal, closely followed by Nigeria. In South Africa, three billionaires own the same wealth as the poorest half of the population – around 28-million people.

Ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa, which is taking place in Durban this week, human rights group Oxfam South Africa noted that African leaders need to build a new more “human economy” to tackle inequality and poverty.

In its ‘Starting with People – A Human Economy Approach to Inclusive Growth in Africa’ report, launched on Tuesday, the organisation noted that decades of record gross domestic product growth have benefited a wealthy elite, but left millions of ordinary Africans behind.

“Consequently, poverty has declined more slowly in Africa than any other region, and pessimistic growth forecasts predict that a further 250-million to 350-million people could be living in extreme poverty within the next 15 years,” it stated.

The report noted that human cost is felt the most by women, the youth and children. In middle-income Nigeria, over ten-million children do not go to school, and one in ten do not reach their fifth birthday.

Oxfam executive director Winnie Byanyima added that inequality on the continent was fuelling poverty, fracturing societies and stifling the potential of millions of people.

“It will become a major drag on economic growth. Africa should stop imitating the failing policies of Europe and America and develop a new economic model that works for all Africans – not just the fortunate few.

“African leaders must not kid themselves. If the wellbeing of people and the protection of the environment are our primary aims, rather than a hoped-for by-product of free markets, we need to explicitly design economies to achieve these things,” said Byanyima.

The report further set out how Africa’s political and business leaders can use economic and taxation policy and social spending to build economies that work for all, including investing in economic activities that support people’s livelihoods; fostering business models that share the benefits of economic success with their workers and society as a whole; creating tax systems that ensure big business and wealthy individuals pay their fair share of tax; and resisting the pressure to privatise education, while investing in public services – particularly healthcare and education – and removing barriers, such as user fees, which prevent the poorest people in society from accessing these services.