Due largely to the effects of colonialism, corrupt governments and despotism, Africa is the world`s poorest inhabited continent. According to the United Nations` Human Development Report in 2003, the bottom 25 ranked nations were all African nations.
While rapid growth in China and now India, and moderate growth in Latin America, has lifted millions beyond subsistence living, Africa has gone backwards in terms of foreign trade, investment, and per capita income. This poverty has widespread effects, including lower life expectancy, violence, and instability -- factors intertwined with the continent`s poverty.
Some areas, notably Botswana and South Africa, have experienced economic success, including the opening of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. This is partly due to its wealth of natural resources, being the world`s leading producer of both gold and diamonds, and partly due to its well-established legal system. South Africa also has access to financial capital, numerous markets, skilled labor, and first world infrastructure in much of the country. Other African countries are making comparable progress, such as Ghana and Kenya, and some, like Egypt, have a longer history of commercial and economic success.
Nigeria sits on one of the largest proven oil reserves in the world and has the highest population among nations in Africa, with one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
From 1995 to 2005, economic growth picked up, averaging 5% in 2005. However some countries experienced much higher growth in particular, Angola, Sudan and Equatorial Guinea, all three of which have recently begun extracting their petroleum reserves.
