The poorest countries in the world are all located on the African continent, more precisely in the area called Black Africa, although it is more correct to call it Sub-Saharan Africa. Today we will analyze the economy and the problems of the 5 poorest countries in the world , which have a very low GDP per capita and an equally low HDI (Human Development Index), naturally, a negative world record. The countries in question are the following: Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Burundi, Liberia and Eritrea . The countries in question are not third world countries, but fourth world countries. This is because, among the third world countries there are countries that are developing, while the countries in question are countries without any possibility of concrete development, ergo, they will always need humanitarian aid in order to survive.
Democratic Republic of CongoThe Democratic Republic of Congo is the poorest country in the world in terms of Gross Domestic Product Per Capita, it is less than 1,000 dollars, and indeed, it is much below this figure. Congo could have been one of the richest countries in all of Africa, but this is not the case, because its important diamond mines have been exploited by foreign, strictly Western, peoples and now little or nothing is left of those resources. Despite this, mineral resources continue to make people rich even though there is very little left of the enormous original wealth. In this period, it is the Chinese companies specializing in mineral extraction that are exploiting these resources and getting richer. But this is not enough, and local agriculture is not even able to satisfy internal demand, so it is subsistence agriculture, and even the worst, among other things. Congo is at the bottom of all the world rankings that count, it is undoubtedly the poorest country in the world overall, although its resources could have made it a more dignified place, but now many of those resources have been plundered.ZimbabweIf the Congolese situation is not the best, that of Zimbabwe is no different. Life expectancy in Zimbabwe is less than 40 years, there is one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world, almost one child in 10, and the situation is constantly evolving, unfortunately not positive, but only negative. Suffice it to say that life expectancy in almost all countries in the world has increased significantly in recent years, while in Zimbabwe it was almost halved in the last century, at least in the first part of it the life expectancy of the local population was 60 years , while today according to official data she is still only 37 years old. The health condition is nothing more than a consequence of the economic situation, in fact the collapsing life expectancy represents the situation perfectly. Almost all countries are growing, while Zimbabwe is in free fall. It has one of the highest inflations ever recorded in history. And unemployment is so high that only 15 people out of 100 work. In short, a catastrophic situation which without humanitarian aid would become a tragedy.
BurundiBurundi is another country in serious difficulty, in fact life expectancy in Burundi is only 50 years, and the average age of the population is so low that it does not even reach the Italian age of majority (18 years). The Nominal Gross Domestic Product is $282, that is, these poor souls live on less than $1 a day, and indeed, even less, given that wealth is not equally distributed. The situation in Burundi, from a purely financial point of view, is not as desperate as that of Zimbabwe but it is still very serious, and only humanitarian aid allows the people to get by.
LiberiaLiberia is paying a high price for two civil wars, and the consequences of the 1980 coup , the consequences of which brought about the two civil wars, and not just wars, because as history teaches us, war brings hunger. So much so that Liberia’s economy was literally disintegrated, there was a 90% collapse in GDP, which led it from being a country with data very similar to those of Northern Africa (just think of the ‘Egypt) to being one of the 5 poorest nations in the world . An inevitable decline given the internal tensions. At present, the survival of the Liberian people is largely dependent on humanitarian aid , and as a result it is for all intents and purposes a fourth world country. After the end of the tensions, Liberia began to grow again , so much so that in the early years of the second decade of the twenty-first century (2010-2019) the economy was one of the most important in terms of growth, however this growth was slowed down by serious internal problems: lack of adequate infrastructure for the production of products for export, and transport costs, are just two of the serious problems that are slowing down its growth.EritreaEritrea is yet another country that has predominantly subsistence agriculture, which is not even enough to satisfy internal demand. One of the main problems of this country is the war which has caused enormous material and human damage, and has also contributed to a decrease in the export of products and an increase in imports. Any country that imports more than it exports has economic problems to solve, and when it is a country that is already very poor in itself, the situation becomes unsustainable. And this is why humanitarian aid has become essential to allow the population to survive. In reality, Eritrea, like other African countries, could be very rich, as it has deposits of gold, oil and many other important materials, but it is the others (Western countries with their companies that deal with the extraction of these materials) that take advantage of it, while Eritrea slowly… dies.
