8. ETHIOPIA
GDP Per Capita: $505
Notwithstanding that Ethiopia has one of the fastest growing economies in the Africa, it still remains one of the poorest countries of the continent. About 29 per cent of the population lives below the national poverty line. The country ranks 174th out of 187 countries on the United Nations Development Programme’s human development index, and average per capita incomes are less than half the current sub-Saharan average. Ethiopia has enormous potential for agricultural development, but the vast majority of farmers are smallholders. These farmers are extremely vulnerable to external shocks such as volatile global markets and drought and other natural disasters. However, it must be noted that Ethiopia used to rank top in the list of poorest African countries but for some years now, there has been significant improvement in the people’s standard of living. The pace of poverty reduction in Ethiopia since 2000 has been impressive, and particularly so when compared to some other poor African countries.
Discussion about this post