The prosperity gap in some African countries refers to the big differences in wealth between countries, regions, and social groups. These differences are seen in things like income, access to basic services, infrastructure, and overall living standards.
The prosperity gap shows how much income needs to increase worldwide to bring everyone up to a standard of $25 per person per day. This gap has stopped improving since the pandemic because of slower economic growth and bigger income differences between countries.
The World Bank’s 2024 report on Poverty, Prosperity, and the Planet says that the prosperity gap is now about the same as the average income of countries that are considered high-income.
Between 1990 and 2024, the global prosperity gap improved by 2.3% per year, with average global income rising by 1.48% and global inequality shrinking by 0.86% each year. The report says these changes are a result of growth in income and changes in inequality.
Many countries with high inequality are in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa. However, the number of countries with high inequality worldwide has decreased.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, inequality is highest in Southern and Central Africa.
High inequality means there is less social mobility, which can make it harder to reduce poverty and create shared prosperity. At the same time, countries with less inequality tend to have more social stability and stronger political systems.
The World Bank report says that in countries with higher inequality, growth leads to a smaller reduction in poverty.
Research suggests that reducing inequality can have a big impact on lowering poverty.
The report also mentions that failing to reduce inequality has been a missed opportunity for poverty reduction in regions where inequality is particularly high.
Here are the African countries with the biggest prosperity gaps due to inequality:
Top 10 African countries with the largest prosperity gap due to inequality:
- Madagascar – Inequality index: 27.32
- Democratic Republic of Congo – Inequality index: 25.97
- Mozambique – Inequality index: 25.16
- South Sudan – Inequality index: 22.44
- Zambia – Inequality index: 23.06
- Central African Republic – Inequality index: 19.95
- Malawi – Inequality index: 18.70
- Burundi – Inequality index: 16.34
- Rwanda – Inequality index: 14.04
- Niger – Inequality index: 12.64