If you want to get wealthy become President

I once said that Africa is not only gifted with leaders who don’t want to relinquish power but also leaders who are stinking rich. Africa is the second largest continent in the world. It is also world’s second most populous continent and regarded as the poorest continent. There are 47 African nations led by leaders who have been ruling for over a decade. Some of these leaders and their families are very rich and their wealth are considered ill-gotten. They make their wealth from natural resources of these nations.

There is one reason why everyone wants to join politics. All other professions don’t seem to make quick money. The only sure path to take if you are to accumulate wealth in an overnight is politics.  The richest people around are those directly in politics or close to those in politics. Leadership ceased being a service and turned into business. It is not surprising that politicians now invest heavily in elections to win a political seat. It is only those in the political seats to determine how the national cake is shared and who has legitimate right to share it.

African presidents have not wasted anytime; they have been at the forefront in accumulating wealth to the point of crowning them the continent’s richest.  A cording to Celebrity Net Worth, Robert Mugabe the President of Zimbabwe has been spotted among the richest presidents. His net worth is estimated to be around $10 million.  The dictator’s family is very wealthy. Mugabe has won many elections, although frequently these have been criticized by outsiders for violating various electoral procedures.

The list cannot be stamped and sealed without including King Mswati III of Swaziland. According to the Forbes magazine Mswati is ranked somewhere among the richest royals; to be specific he is the 15th richest royal in the world.  He is worth an estimated $100 million. The King has often been criticized for his lavish spending. In 2009 several of his 13 wives reportedly spent over $6 million in a shopping spree. In the 2014 budget, parliament allocated $61 million for the King’s annual household budget, while 63 percent of Swazis live on less than $1.25 per day. His luxury car collection includes a $500,000 Daimler Chrysler’s flagship Maybach 62.

At first it may sound incredible to say that Uhuru Kenyatta is among the richest African presidents yet he has only served less than two years. But we must remember that he is the son of Kenya’s first President, Jomo Kenyatta. In 2011, Forbes estimated his net worth at $500 million. Most of his wealth comes from property. With his family, the President owns stakes in Kenya’s largest dairy company Brookside Dairies, media company Mediamax, Heritage Hotels, Commercial Bank of Africa and hundreds of thousands of prime Kenyan land. He is regarded as man of the people due to his sociability.

Every time someone mentioned the name Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, someone listening would immediately think of the economy of Equatorial Guinea. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo came to power in August 1979 by ousting his uncle Francisco Macias Nguema in a military coup. He has overseen the emergence of the nation as an important oil producer, beginning in 1990s. This President and his family literally own the economy; his personal fortune was estimated at $600 million in 2006. In October 2011, the United States government seized $70 million assets of his son, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue. We should not forget that Equatorial Guinea is Africa’s second richest nation, majority of the population actually live under the poverty line.

King Mswati is not alone. Mohammed VI is the current King of Morocco. He is also the country’s leading businessman.  According to the Forbes he is worth more than $2.5 billion. The King ascended to the throne following his father’s death in 1999 and he immediately set about improving upon his appalling human rights record and alleviating poverty.

Jose Eduardo dos Santos has also been a sounding the President in Angola. He has held on to this post since 1979. His personal estimated wealth exceeds $20 billion. At the time when around 70 percent of Angolans live on less than two dollars a day, the president’s daughter Isabel dos Santos is among the Forbes’ Africa billionaires with a net worth of $3.8 billion. She’s currently Africa’s richest woman and also the world’s richest black woman.

If you still think that politics is not a lucrative business tell me which other business is more profitable than politics.

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