The current rate of economic growth in the countries of Africa suggests that the poverty level on the continent will be reduced to 23% by 2030, Vsevolod Sviridov, an expert at the Center for African Studies of Russia's National Research University the Higher School of Economics, told Sputnik.
"According to the World Bank, the poverty rate (income of less than $1.9 per person per day) in Africa fell from 54% in 1990 to 40% in 2018. In absolute numbers, that's 426.8 million people today," he said.
According to Sviridov, while maintaining the current rate of economic growth, the poverty rate on the continent will fall to 23%.
The expert also noted that by 2030, the size of the middle class in Africa will grow, with the number reaching 580 million people by then.
"In addition, the number of the richest will increase by another 116 million," he concluded.
On May 1, a Mo Ibrahim Foundation report (a non-grant and non-fundraising organization focused on defining, assessing and enhancing governance and leadership in Africa) also gave an optimistic forecast for the continent, estimating that Africa's GDP growth rate would outstrip the global average in each of the next five years, being second only to Asia.
According to the IMF, Africa's economic growth and living standards would be boosted by the successful implementation of the African Free Trade Area, which "could lift up to 50 million people out of extreme poverty."