African Proverbs about Money and Wealth

Make some money but don't let money make you. - Tanzania

It is no shame at all to work for money. – Africa

He who loves money must labor.  - Mauritania

By labor comes wealth.- Yoruba

Poverty is slavery. - Somalia

One cannot both feast and become rich. - Ashanti

One cannot count on riches. - Somalia

Money is sharper than the sword. - Ashanti

A man's wealth may be superior to him. - Cameroon

The rich are always complaining. – Zulu

The wealth which enslaves the owner isn't wealth. - Yoruba

The poor man and the rich man do not play together. - Ashanti

Never promise a poor person, and never owe a rich one. - Brazil

Lack of money is lack of friends; if you have money at your disposal, every dog and goat will claim to be related to you.- Yoruba

With wealth one wins a woman. - Uganda

Dogs do not actually prefer bones to meat; it is just that no one ever gives them meat. - Akan

A real family eats the same cornmeal. - Bayombe

If your cornfield is far from your house, the birds will eat your corn. - Congo

Money can't talk, yet it can make lies look true. - South Africa

One cannot count on riches. - Somalia

Money is not the medicine against death.- Ghana

He who receives a gift does not measure. - Africa

Much wealth brings many enemies. - Swahili

There is no one who became rich because he broke a holiday, no one became fat because he broke a fast. - Ethiopia

What you give you get, ten times over. - Yoruba

Greed loses what it has gained. - Africa

 

You become wise when you begin to run out of money. - Ghana

If ten cents does not go out, it does not bring in one thousand dollars. - Ghana

You should not hoard your money and die of hunger. - Ghana

Wealth diminishes with usage; learning increases with use. - Nigeria

  

Wisdom is not like money to be tied up and hidden. – Akan

Having a good discussion is like having riches - Kenya

Knowledge is better than riches. - Cameroon

You must act as if it is impossible to fail. - Ashanti

Do not let what you cannot do tear from your hands what you can. - Ashanti

For more African proverbs on money and wealth (and many other topics) please see Lifelines: The African Book of Proverbs.