Unlucky 13

The 13 African countries identified by the IMF as vulnerable to the economic downturn are as follows :

1. Angola
2. Burundi
3. Central African Republic
4. Democratic Republic of Congo
5. Côte d’Ivoire
6. Djibouti
7. Ghana
8. Lesotho
9. Liberia
10. Mauritania
11. Nigeria
12. Sudan
13. Zambia

I’m personally surprised not by the inclusions but by certain absences (Zimbabwe anyone?).

The IMF refers to these countries as LICs — Low Income Countries (the full report is here . . . warning 70-page PDF, alternatively try Andrew Walker’s briefing) .

But are we in the developing countries guilty of appealing to Africa’s sense of shame rather than its dynamism when we categorise countries in this way?

It’s a point former World Bank Africa boss Robert Calderisi makes in his book The Trouble With Africa. A timely tome I’ve decided to read. If you’re after an insider’s view of how the IMF and the World Bank treat Africa and Africans it’s an authoritative source.