The African Prosperity Pyramid

I’ve been thinking about the concept of an African prosperity pyramid for a long time, but for the first time, I was able to articulate it properly. This happened over lunch with Jermaine, founder of Kwanda in Dar es Salaam. We happened to be in the city at the same time and met up to catch up. He asked me a question that forced me to think very deeply. His question was: What is your vision for Africa?

My immediate answer was wealth creation. Then I paused and thought like an LLM (lol). I said we need to create wealth. A boatload of it. But as I said it out loud, I remembered an article I’d read earlier that morning about how international aid to Africa has dropped significantly, especially from USAID. At the same time, food banks across Africa are more strained than ever. The demand for handouts is rising, but the supply that replenishes food banks is falling. That pressure is being felt in parts of sub-Saharan Africa where acute hunger is growing daily.

Over the past decade, the spending power of many Africans has declined, while the population continues to grow rapidly. According to the World Bank, over 40% of people in sub-Saharan Africa still live on less than $1.90 a day. When you face numbers like that, the work I do can sometimes feel insignificant because the people we’re building for are those with disposable income, people who aren’t thinking about what they’re going to eat tomorrow. Granted, the majority of our customers are in the diaspora, but these statistics are extremely discouraging. 

That’s what led me to finally articulate my theory of the African prosperity pyramid. I believe there is a world where we can leverage those with disposable income to invest in entrepreneurs who can create jobs and build industries that lift others.

The African Prosperity Pyramid

When I think about African prosperity, I see it in three important layers:

Level One - The Fundamentals: Food, healthcare and education. These should be human rights and accessible to everyone. In Africa, millions still lack consistent access to any of the three, and that gap fuels larger issues. But let’s dream, even for a moment, that these basics are in place.

Level Two - Jobs and Income: Once people are educated and healthy, the next step is to find employment. Having a job and the ability to earn money creates a sense of agency. It enables people to build a life, care for their family, and maintain a decent standard of living. Most developed countries have achieved this layer for the majority of their citizens. Africa hasn’t yet, partly because our population is growing faster than our economies are creating jobs. For context, Africa is creating only 11 million jobs for the 20 million people who enter the workforce every year.

Level Three - Wealth Creation: This is the top of the pyramid and the most powerful driver. Wealth creation influences job creation. It builds industries. It funds innovation. It generates tax revenue. It shapes policy. Without wealth creators, everything below strains.

Flipping the Pyramid

The expectation is to build the pyramid from the ground up: provide basics, then jobs, then wealth. But I think Africa needs to flip that model.

If we start with wealth creation, by investing in entrepreneurs, backing innovation and enabling capital formation, we can trigger the layers below.

When entrepreneurs grow, they need people. They set up factories. They hire talent. They build companies. Even in the age of AI, human resources will still matter across many industries on the continent.

That movement fuels Level Two. When more people have jobs and income, they can support their families, send their children to school, and afford healthcare, addressing the needs of Level One in practical and sustainable ways.

And when both entrepreneurs and workers pay taxes, governments have the revenue to invest in infrastructure, schools, and hospitals, provided that the money is not embezzled but actually used in the right way, for the benefit of the people.

Why This Matters Now

We can’t wait for aid to save us because aid itself is shrinking. We can’t build from the bottom when the base is crumbling. We must start by empowering the individuals who can create wealth and circulate it. We need more Africans to invest in Africa, fund entrepreneurs who are building the Africa we can be proud of, a prosperous Africa.

If you also believe in this theory, I’d like to invite you to the ABAN Congress, the first of its kind, taking place on October 17th and 18th in Lagos. You can find out more about the congress and how to register below:

ABAN Congress

See you in Lagos!

And in case you are here for the first time, I’m Joe Kinvi, founder of Borderless, your gateway to African investments. Discover collectives to join on our platform.