{"id":2421,"date":"2025-08-15T11:21:40","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T11:21:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/?p=2421"},"modified":"2025-08-15T11:21:46","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T11:21:46","slug":"top-10-african-countries-that-have-gone-from-low-income-to-middle-income-economies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/top-10-african-countries-that-have-gone-from-low-income-to-middle-income-economies\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 African countries that have gone from low-income to middle-income economies"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In the early 2000s, 63 countries were home to more than 60% of the 1.8 billion people who lived in extreme poverty.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Of those nations, 39 have advanced to middle-income rank since then.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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However, the pace at which LICs are moving up the income ladder has significantly slowed in recent years, due to worsening internal and international circumstances, according to a report from the World Bank.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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As of 2023, twenty-four nations that were LICs at the beginning of the century still have yearly per capita incomes below $1,145.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAcross a wide spectrum of development indicators, today\u2019s LICs are worse off than LICs in 2000 that subsequently attained middle-income status,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIn 2024, these 26 countries, concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa, comprised more than 40 percent of people living in extreme poverty globally. Making progress on eliminating extreme poverty, therefore, depends crucially on accelerating progress in LICs,\u201d it adds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Abidjan<\/picture><\/span><\/p>\n

Abidjan Cote d’ Ivoire (Britannica)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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This is because the economic challenges that LICs face have worsened in the past 15 years, as a result of deadly wars and violence, climatic shocks, debt crises, and weak development.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Since 2010, yearly per capita growth in today’s LICs has averaged less than 0.1 percent, indicating 15 years of squandered opportunity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Nevertheless, several African countries have leaped from LICs to middle-income countries based on their current Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, as per the\u00a0World Bank\u2019s report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Below are the top 10 African countries that have made this leap, which currently have the highest GNIs of the bunch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Top 10 African countries that have gone from low-income to middle-income economies since 2000<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Rank<\/th>\nCountry<\/th>\nGNI per capita in 2000<\/th>\nLatest GNI per capita<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1.<\/td>\nEquatorial Guinea<\/td>\n$680<\/td>\n$5,240<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2.<\/td>\nC\u00f4te d’Ivoire<\/td>\n$640<\/td>\n$2,670<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3.<\/td>\nS\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 and Principe<\/td>\n$480<\/td>\n$2,480<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4.<\/td>\nCongo, Rep.<\/td>\n$560<\/td>\n$ 2,470<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5.<\/td>\nGhana<\/td>\n$ 330<\/td>\n$2,340<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6.<\/td>\nMauritania<\/td>\n$710<\/td>\n$ 2,150<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7.<\/td>\nAngola<\/td>\n$360<\/td>\n$2,130<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8.<\/td>\nKenya<\/td>\n$430<\/td>\n$2,110<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9.<\/td>\nNigeria<\/td>\n<\/td>\n$1,930<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10.<\/td>\nZimbabwe<\/td>\n$360<\/td>\n$1,740<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the early 2000s, 63 countries were home to more than 60% of the 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