Poverty in focus: See IMF's 2025 list of top 10 poorest African countries

Legit.ng writer Ruth Okwumbu-Imafidon has implicit a decennary of acquisition successful concern reporting crossed integer and mainstream media.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has listed Africa’s poorest countries for 2025 based connected GDP per capita (measured by purchasing powerfulness parity, oregon PPP). The study shows that millions of radical crossed the continent inactive look superior economical hardships.

Many tiny African nations conflict due to the fact that their banking systems are weak, resources are limited, and taxation policies often discourage caller investments.

Bigger countries look challenges similar governmental instability, mediocre infrastructure, and ongoing conflicts that dilatory down their growth.

Is Nigeria 1 of the poorest countries successful Africa? IMF ranks apical 10 successful 2025
Source: UGC

Although determination person been improvements successful commercialized and governance successful immoderate regions, achieving lasting economical stableness remains difficult.

Experts judge that investing much successful manufacturing, healthcare, and education could assistance these countries turn stronger.

Governments and planetary partners proceed to look for semipermanent solutions to assistance much radical retired of poverty.

How GDP per capita measures countries' wealth

According to Investopedia, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the full monetary oregon marketplace worth of each the finished goods and services produced wrong a country’s borders successful a circumstantial clip period.

To amended recognize however affluent oregon productive a state is for each person, GDP per capita is used. This divides the full GDP by the fig of radical successful the country.

However, GDP per capita doesn’t bespeak the differences successful surviving costs betwixt countries. That’s wherever Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) comes successful — it adjusts for section prices and inflation, giving a much close representation of however surviving standards comparison crossed antithetic nations.

Here are the 10 poorest countries successful Africa by GDP per capita (PPP) arsenic of February 25, 2025, according to IMF data:

1. South Sudan

GDP-PPP per capita: $960.24

South Sudan, the youngest state successful Africa, faces utmost economical hardship worsened by ongoing violence, governmental unrest, and dense dependence connected lipid exports. The country's economy is fragile and easy affected by planetary terms changes, making sustainable improvement precise difficult.

2. Burundi

GDP-PPP per capita: $1,009

Burundi remains 1 of the poorest countries, with astir of its colonisation relying connected small-scale farming. Industrial maturation is slow, and the state faces problems with commercialized and entree to planetary markets, keeping economical advancement limited.

3. Central African Republic (CAR)

GDP-PPP per capita: $1,314

Years of governmental instability person made it hard for the Central African Republic to pull investors oregon physique sustainable businesses. Many citizens endure from nutrient shortages, deficiency of healthcare, and mediocre entree to education.

4. Malawi

GDP-PPP per capita: $1,765

Malawi’s system depends mostly connected agriculture, but biology challenges similar floods and droughts wounded production. Limited concern maturation means less jobs, and the state struggles to grow its system beyond farming.

5. Mozambique

GDP-PPP per capita: $1,787

Mozambique faces predominant earthy disasters similar cyclones, which harm its economy. Though it is affluent successful earthy resources similar state and minerals, mediocre absorption and governmental issues person slowed progress. Reforms are needed to unlock the country’s afloat potential.

6. Somalia

GDP-PPP per capita: $1,900

Ongoing insecurity and anemic authorities systems person kept Somalia’s system fragile. The state struggles to physique industries oregon pull overseas investors, and galore citizens deficiency entree to basal services.

7. Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

GDP-PPP per capita: $1,908

The DRC has immense earthy wealth, including minerals similar cobalt and copper. However, corruption, governmental conflict, and mediocre infrastructure mean that overmuch of the colonisation inactive lives successful poverty, contempt the country’s immense economical potential.

8. Liberia

GDP-PPP per capita: $2,003

Liberia is inactive recovering from years of civilian warfare and economical crises. Although determination person been improvements successful governance and rebuilding efforts, wide poorness remains, and the system is inactive precise fragile.

Is Nigeria 1 of the poorest countries successful Africa? IMF ranks apical 10 successful 2025
Source: UGC

9. Madagascar

GDP-PPP per capita: $2,062

Madagascar faces challenges from governmental instability, debased concern output, and predominant clime disasters similar cyclones and droughts. The country’s system relies heavy connected farming and tourism, but concern successful industries and infrastructure is needed for existent growth.

10. Niger

GDP-PPP per capita: $2,084

Niger deals with accelerated colonisation growth, anemic industrialization, and the harsh effects of clime change, specified arsenic desertification. These factors agelong the country’s constricted resources, making it hard to supply basal services similar acquisition and healthcare to its people.

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Source: Legit.ng