Black Panther’s Kingdom is More Powerful Than Fans Realize
The nation of Wakanda is one of the wealthiest countries in Marvel's world, thanks in part to its enormous deposits of Vibranium. This miracle metal has limitless applications and has been used to create everything from Black Panther’s nigh-invulnerable suit of armor, to miracle medicines. Its scarcity in other parts of the world has given it an estimated value of $10,000 per gram, putting Wakanda’s estimated wealth at $90.7 trillion dollars.
But at one point in Marvel's Black Panther comics, all Vibranium on Earth was rendered inert and the miracle metal’s worth sharply plummeted, leaving Wakanda without its number one export. This concerned T’Challa’s foreign allies, who worried that Wakanda’s wealth and standing in the world were in jeopardy. When they asked the Black Panther about this fear for Wakanda's economic future... they got a surprising response.
In Fantastic Four #607, King T’Challa invites the Fantastic Four to Wakanda following the revelation that their Vibranium reserves were inert. Reed immediately launches into his grand plan to save Wakanda, stating his think tank has come up with long term infrastructure solutions, population projections, and an aggressive solution for economic expansion. His enthusiasm, however, is met by polite but firm statement from T’Challa that Wakanda does not need outside help. Telling his friend, “We are not peasants who fell backwards into wealth, Reed,” T’Challa goes on to state that Wakanda was able to thrive while Rome burned thanks to their practice of always keeping an eye on the horizon. To illustrate this, he reveals that over a decade ago, he began liquidating Wakanda’s Vibranium resources at close to 400 ounces a day.
The incoming capital was then heavily invested in several emerging economies by Wakanda’s best economists. As a result of this forward-thinking, even after Wakanda’s most valuable export was rendered nearly valueless, their national reserves numbered in the trillions of dollars, ensuring that Wakanda would continue to thrive for generations. T’Challa finishes by letting Reed know that, “We’ve actually been aggressively buying American debt for the past few years. And, by the way… you’re welcome for that.”
It’s a stirring reminder that Wakanda’s greatest resource is not Vibranium at all, but the investment its leaders make in the education and well-being of its citizens. While T’Challa and his ancestors knew the value of Vibranium and made sure to explore all of its fantastic possibilities, they never relied on the wealth it generated to make their kingdom strong. Rather, they put that responsibility in the hands of their people, encouraging a philosophy of diversification and preparedness that ensured Wakanda would never rely on a single resource and would actually position themselves so other nations were reliant on them.
The Black Panther’s Vibranium may be the greatest natural resource in the Marvel Universe, but as usual, it’s the people using it that ensure Wakanda will indeed thrive… forever.