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Estimated population 12.2 million
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The former French colony of Níger has the unfortunate distinction of being ranked 177th, the worst country on Earth by the UN in terms of Human Development. Males and Females can expect to live only to 43 years and GDP per capita was a little over $270 in 2005. In the same year the member countries of the IMF and the World Bank cancelled the country's external debt. Successive military dictatorships have hampered development. Tuareg rebels are active in the north. There are significant uranium resources and promising indications of petroleum deposits.
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Estimated population 130 million
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Africa's most populous country, Nigeria gained independence from Britain in 1960 and after a serious of corrupt and undemocratic military regimes is currently enjoying its longest period of civilian government. Income from the country's very significant petroleum assets have been squandered over the years and the GDP per capita in 2005 was exceptionally low for a country of its abundant natural resources at just $675. More than 60 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line. Rated 155th in the Human Development Index, Nigeria is currently undergoing attempts at reform some of which have been hampered by the country's endemic corruption.
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Estimated population 17.4 million
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Madagascar is a large island separated from the south eastern coast of Africa by the Mozambique Channel. A former French colony it gained its independence in 1960. Coffee, sugar cane, pepper, vanilla and cotton are important crops and tourism is increasingly important as a foreign currency earner. Mauritius has a high GDP per capita by African standards of $5,010 and is rated 63rd in the UN Human development index. Female life expectancy is 59 and male 54.
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Estimated population 85000
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With a GPD per capita running close of $8,000, Seychellois are extremely rich by African standards. This is reflected in the country’s rating as 47th in the world in the UN’s Human Development index. A small, and therefore highly manageable economy, as well as a very highly developed tourism industry has helped created a positive economic situation in which inflation was kept to a mere 1% in 2004. Life expectancy for females is 77 years and for males it is 66.
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Estimated population 9 million
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Rwanda came to the attention of the international community during the genocide of 1994 when over 800,000 people lost their lives. It is an extremely densely-populated country in which malnutrition is a serious problem. A period of nominal German occupation ended after the First World War to be succeeded by more hands-on rule from Belgium the colonial power in the neighbouring Congo. Rwanda is rated 158th in Human Development and had a GDP of $240 in 2005. Life expectancy is 46 for females and 42 for males. Subsistence agriculture is widespread and industrial development is weak.
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Estimated population 150,000
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A former Portuguese colony independent since 1975 Sao Tome and Principe is a democratic republic with a high level of human and political rights including freedom of political opposition. Consisting of two islands off the coast of Gabon and just north of the equator the country has one of the lowest populations in Africa, It had a GDP per capita of $440 in 2005. Recent offshore discoveries of hydrocarbons hold out promise of greater prosperity. Life expectancy at 68 for females and 65 for males is high by African standards.
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Estimated population 10 million
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Independent since 1960 Senegal’s first president the poet and philospher Leopold Senghor, the first African member of the Académie Française has been recognised as the most important of the continent’s intellectuals of the 20th century. He retired as president in 1981. Senegal is 156th in the UN’s index of Human Development and benefits from what is, by African standards, an extremely low rate of HIV-AIDS infection at less than 1% of the population. GDP per capita in 2005 was just under $740. Life expectancy for females in 60 years and for males 57. Fishing is a major resource as is the cultivation of ground nuts and the local currency’s exchange rate is linked to that of the Euro.
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Estimated population 4.2 million
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Rated 176th out of 177 countries in the UN Human Development Index, Sierra Leone has suffered severe political and economic instability but is now showing distinct signs of redovery. Founded as a refuge for slaves who had fought on the losing British side in the American War of Independence the country became independent in 1961. Thirty years later however the collapse of governance in neighbouring Liberia, ironically founded as a refuge for American slaves, marked the beginning of a brutal civil war. An incursion by the Liberian backed Revolutionary United Front (RUF) ignited an already tense situation. This was followed by a coup d’état launched by officers dissatisfied with the government’s attempts to deal with the RUF rebels. United Nations intervention eventually brought an end to a particularly vicious conflict and democratic presidential and parliamentary elections were held in 2002 and were followed by local elections two years later. Sierra Leone is an important producer of diamonds, iron, platinum and chromium. GDP per capita in 2005 was $223. Life expectancy in 2004 was 42 for females and 38 for males.
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Estimated population 10.5 million
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There has been no effective national government in Somalia for at least 15 years. It is not, therefore, included in the IMF’s listings of GDP per capita nor in the UN index of Human Development. Fighting between the Ismalic Courts Movement and a group of warlords in the capital Mogadishu resulted in victory for the Islamic side in 2006 but their writ does not run nationwide. Piracy on the seas off Somalia has become an increasing problem for international shipping.
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Estimated population 47 million
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Immense natural resources have made South Africa the most powerful economic force on the continent. Its reserves of gold are the largest in the world and it is also the major producer of diamonds and platinum. Non-precious metals are also to be found abundantly. Tourism, particularly to the Western Cape, the Kruger National Park and the coastal resorts along the Indian Ocean. The country has a well-developed infrastructure and extensive networks of roads, railways and air services. Set up in 1910 as a self-governing British Dominion, following the Anglo-Boer war, power in South Africa was handed over by London to the white minority population consisting of the descendants of British and Dutch colonists. Following elections in 1948 the more extreme Afrikaner elements gained power and instituted a policy of apartheid perhaps the most evil political system to be invented after the second world war. International sanctions and opposition from within led to the introduction of democracy in 1994. Elections were won convincingly by the African National Congress (ANC) and Mr Nelson Mandela, released from prison in 1990, became president. South Africa is ranked 121st in Human Development and despite the country’s immense wealth the GDP per capita was low at $5,200 in 2004. While the economy is strong the country has a major problem with HIV-AIDS with an infection rate of 20%. The government, after a long delay, has made substantial funds to fight this pandemic. Violent crime is also a problem in the greater Johannesburg region. Life expectancy for females in 49 and for males 45.
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Estimated population 2.5 million
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Sudan is currently the site of what is probably the world’s most serious humanitarian problem.The conflict in the Darfur region began in the 1990s just as a civil war in the rest of the country was coming to an end. Although government forces have been accused of atrocities most of the blame has focused on the Janjaweed militias. An agreement between the belligerents was formulated in 2006 but fighting and atrocities continue and threaten to destabilise Chad and the Central African Republic. Sudan is ranked 141st in Human Development and had a GDP per capita in 2005 of $790. Life expectancy for females is 59 and for males 54.
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Estimated population 1.1 million
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One of the last remaining absolute monarchies in the world Swaziland is ruled by the eccentric and authoritarian King Mswati III. A landlocked country surrounded by South Africa and Mozambique it has a GDP per capita of $2,300 and is ranked 146th in Human Development. Despite his country’s poverty King Mswati spends large sums on self-aggrandisement including a fleet of luxury cars and a series of opulent mansions for each of his numerous wives. The country has the second highest incidence of HIV-AIDS in the world. Female life expectancy is 35 and male 33.
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Estimated population 37 million
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Formerly German East Africa, the country was mandated to Britain as Tanganyika after the First World War. Tanzania came into being as an independent country in 1964 with the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. It is ranked 162nd in Human Development by the United Nations and had a GDP per capita in 2005 of $336. Live expectancy for women is 46 and 44 for men. Coffee and cotton are important crops and the economy has been growing at more than 6% in recent years.
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Estimated population 1.5 million
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A former British colony Gambia has a small coastline and is otherwise completely surrounded by the former French colony of Senegal. It gained independence in 1965 and was a model for African democracy until a coup d’état overthrew the elected government in 1994. The current government has been accused of imposing restrictions on free speech. While the growing and processing of ground nuts (peanuts) has been the economy’s traditional mainstay, tourism mostly from northern Europe is of increasing importance. Gambia is rated 155th in Human Development and had a GDP per capita of $304 in 2005.
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Estimated population 5.25 million
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Formerly the German colony of Togoland the country was mandated to Britain and France after Germany’s defeat in the First World War. After the Second World War the British section joined with the Gold Coast to become Ghana while the French section became the current republic of Togo. Rated 147th in Human Development it had a per capita GDP of $343 in 2005. Life expectancy for females is 59 for females and 55 for males. Togo is one of the world’s most important exporters of phosphates.
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Estimated population 10 million
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The success of low-cost Asian products has diminished Tunisia’s ability to compete on European markets and the government has responded with a programme of modernisation of its educational system and physical infrastructure. It has also invested further in its lucrative tourism industry. Tunisia is an important producer of olives and olive oil and there are significant hydrocarbon deposits. Tunisia’s GDP per capita is almost $3,000 and it is ranked 87th for Human Development. Female life expectancy is 76 and male 71.
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A victim of an unfortunate series of historical events, Namibia was a German colony whose indigenous population suffered attempts at genocide by the former colonial power. After Germany's defeat in the First World War the territory was mandated to South Africa by the League of Nations. South Africa moved quickly to absorb the territory of South West Africa as an internal province which eventually became part of the apartheid regime. One of the least densely-populated countries in Africa it depends largely on mining for its income although eco-tourism is a growing source of foreign currency. Namibia's GDP per capita in 2005 was estimated at a little under $3,000. Female life expectancy is 49 and male 48. A severe AIDS problem exists in the country. Namibia is ranked 125th in the world in terms of human development.
