Two-thirds of those in extreme poverty live in Africa

The World Poverty Clock and Brookings Institute indicate that more than 643 million people across the world live in extreme poverty, with Africans accounting for about two-thirds of the total number.

The researchers note that 14 out of 18 countries where poverty is rising are in Africa, adding that if current rates persist, 90% of the world’s poorest will be living on the continent by 2030.

Nigeria has overtaken India as the country with the largest number of people living in extreme poverty, with an estimated 87 million Nigerians, or around half of the country’s population, thought to be living on less than $1.90 a day.

Other nations in Africa to feature on the list of 10 worst affected countries, include the Democratic Republic of Congo, with 60 million people; Ethiopia with 23.9 million people; Tanzania with 19.9 million.; Mozambique, with 17.8 million people; Kenya, with 14.7 million people; and Uganda, with 14.2 million.

The introduction of internationally agreed UN Sustainable Development Goals, intended to “end poverty” by 2030, has resulted in about 83 million people escape extreme poverty between January 1, 2016 and July 2018. However, “the task of ending extreme poverty by 2030 is becoming inexorably harder because we are running out of time. We should celebrate our achievements, but increasingly sound the alarm that not enough is being done, especially in Africa,” researchers say.

[CNN]

This entry was posted in Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation, Uncategorized by Grant Montgomery.