Top 10 Poorest Countries In Africa 2024

Top 10 Poorest Countries In Africa 2024: Africa is considered the poorest continent on Earth. Almost every second person living in the states of sub-Saharan Africa lives below the poverty line. However, some countries are poorer than others. Read on to discover the top 10 Poorest countries in Africa.

Poorest Countries In Africa

Somalia

Years of conflict and fragility have left Somalia’s economy with a range of challenges, including population growth outstripping economic growth, acute poverty and vulnerability, recurrent external trade and climate shocks.

Weak fiscal space and institutions, active insurgency and an incomplete political settlement have also affected the country’s economic strength.

Top 10 Poorest Countries In Africa

Central African Republic

The per capita income of the Republic is often listed as being approximately $400 a year, one of the lowest in the world

Central African Republic exports largely locally produced alcoholic beverages, diamonds, ivory, bushmeat, and traditional medicine.

Burundi is a landlocked, resource-poor country with an underdeveloped manufacturing sector. Agriculture accounts for over 40% of GDP and employs more than 90% of the population. Burundi’s primary exports are coffee and tea.

Top 10 Poorest Countries In Africa

Burundi

Most of the Burundian population lives in poverty, especially in rural areas.

 The level of food insecurity is almost twice as high as the average for sub-Saharan African countries, with about 1.77 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in 2019 according to the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP), which is estimated at $106 million.

Liberia

The economy of Liberia is extremely underdeveloped, largely due to the First Liberian Civil War from 1989–96. Liberia itself is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world.

Liberia’s business sector is largely controlled by foreigners mainly of Lebanese and Indian descent.

There also are limited numbers of Chinese engaged in agriculture.

The largest timber concession, Oriental Timber Corporation (OTC), is Indonesian owned. 

Poorest Countries In Africa

Niger

Niger is a developing country, which consistently ranks near the bottom in the United Nations’ Human Development Index (HDI); it was ranked 187th of 188 countries for 2015 and 189th out of 189 countries in the 2018 and 2019 reports. 

Many of the non-desert portions of the country are threatened by periodic drought and desertification.

The economy is concentrated around subsistence, with some export agriculture in the more fertile south, and export of raw materials, especially uranium ore.

Niger faces serious challenges to development due to its landlocked position, desert terrain, inefficient agriculture, high fertility rates without birth control, and the resulting overpopulation, the poor educational level and poverty of its people, lack of infrastructure, poor healthcare, and environmental degradation.

Malawi

Malawi is among the world’s least-developed countries. The economy is heavily based in agriculture, with a largely rural population that is growing at a rapid rate.

The Malawian government depends heavily on outside aid to meet development needs, although this need (and the aid offered) has decreased since 2000.

The Malawian government faces challenges in building and expanding the economy, improving education, healthcare, environmental protection, and becoming financially independent amidst widespread unemployment.

Top 10 Poorest Countries In Africa

Mozambique

While economic conditions have improved, Mozambique remains on a subdued growth trajectory following the 2015 commodity price shock and 2016 hidden loans crisis.

The devastating impact of tropical cyclones Idai and Kenneth on agricultural production and falling commodity prices, motivates muted growth prospects for 2019.

Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth is estimated to reach 2%, below the average of 3.7% experienced between 2016 and 2018, and the lowest growth recorded since 2000 when Mozambique experienced devastating floods in the south of the country.

Top 10 Poorest Countries In Africa

Source: Glusea