Top 10 poorest countries in Africa

Many measuring tools exist to assess the wealth of a nation. For this top 10 of the poorest countries in Africa, the criterion used is GDP per capita.

Those measures give an idea of the wealth to which each individual can potentially have access in a nation and provide indications on the general standard of living.

Top 10 poorest countries in Africa

1. Burundi (267 GDP)

Civil and tribal wars, HIV/AIDS, corruption, nepotism, and malnutrition, are factors that keep this country in poverty.

2. Malawi (397 GDP)

Malawi also experiences extreme poverty. The recent droughts are slowing the economic recovery of the country, which depends mainly on agriculture.

3. Mozambique (431 GDP)

Although Mozambique’s economy experienced a boost in 2011 with the discovery of natural gas, the country’s development is still lagging, in part due to the civil war that has lasted for more than ten and a half years.

4. Sierra Leone (471 GDP)

Despite its abundance of natural resources such as diamonds, titanium, and bauxite, 70% of the population are poor in Sierra Leone. The youth unemployment rate is high.

5. Democratic Republic of Congo (478 GDP)

Although it has many natural resources, the development of the DRC is slow due to several scourges, including war, political instability, corruption, and the exploitation and extraction of natural resources by foreigners.

6. Central African Republic (552 GDP)

Despite the abundance of resources like gold, diamonds, and oil, inter-ethnic violence has hampered the economic development of the Central African Republic since its independence from France in 1960.

Just over half of the Central African population lives in rural areas, and 90% of those living in urban areas concentrated in slums. The country also has the third-highest child death rate globally and one of the lowest average life expectancies, at just 52.9 years.

6. Madagascar (554 GDP)

Currently, three-quarters of the Malagasy population live on less than $ 1.25 a day. Most of the inhabitants are heavily dependent on agriculture, making it a vulnerable country, given their weather conditions. In addition, the latest coup d’etat led to the cessation of foreign development aid, which contributes to its poverty.

7. Niger (567 GDP)

With one of the largest uranium deposits globally, the fall in the price of this material has slowed down the Nigerien economy over the years. To this must be added the cycles of drought impacting agriculture and the rapid growth of the population, which also contributes to maintaining poverty in this country.

9. Liberia (646 GDP)

In Liberia, the standard employment rate stands at 15%, and 85% of the population lives below a dollar. Although it did not colonize, the country derives its poverty from a coup d’état in 1980 combined with political instability, which led to the fall of contributors.

10. Togo (759 GDP)

Togo is one of the poorest countries in the world. About half of the city population resides in slums, and almost half of Togo’s total population lives on less than $1.90 per day. Life expectancy in the country is only 60.5 years, nearly 12 years below the global average.