Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Tanzania and Ethiopia currently account for about 413 million people living below poverty line in Africa. This is about half of the continent’s population.

The disclosure was contained in the 2014 Africa Progress Panel Report (APPR), released during the week. The panel which has 10 board members is currently chaired by a former Secretary General to the United Nations (UN), Kofi Annan. Nigeria’s former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, is also on the board.

The report stated: "More than 413 million people still live below the poverty line. Just four countries: Nigeria, DRC, Tanzania, and Ethiopia, account for half of Africa’s poor."

While acknowledging that Africa remains one of the world’s fastest growing regions in the world, it said: "In the past decade and a half, the only global region to grow consistently faster than Sub-Saharan Africa has been developing Asia.

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