The World Bank on Wednesday classified Mauritius as a High Income country while Tanzania and Benin are now considered Lower-middle income countries.
The East African island nation of Mauritius is now a high-income country, according to the World Bank, joining Seychelles as the only other country in Africa on that list.
While Tanzania and Benin have been upgraded to the rank of Lower-middle income countries.
Tanzania’s president John Pombe Magufuli shared the news on social media, highlighting the fact that the feat has been achieved five years earlier than projected.
“Today, the World Bank has declared Tanzania Middle Income Country…We had envisaged to achieve this status by 2025 but, with strong determination, this has been possible in 2020,” Magufuli tweeted.
Today, the World Bank has declared Tanzania Middle Income Country. In this regard, I congratulate all my compatriots for this historic achievement. We had envisaged to achieve this status by 2025 but,with strong determination, this has been possible in 2020. GOD BLESS TANZANIA.
— Dr John Magufuli (@MagufuliJP) July 1, 2020
“Today, the World Bank has declared Tanzania Middle Income Country. In this regard, I congratulate all my compatriots for this historic achievement. We had envisaged to achieve this status by 2025 but,with strong determination, this has been possible in 2020. GOD BLESS TANZANIA.
“In each country, factors such as economic growth, inflation, exchange rates, and population growth influence GNI per capita. Revisions to national accounts methods and data can also influence GNI per capita,” read part of the World Bank statement explaining the changes in classifications.
“National accounts revisions have played a significant role in the upward revision for Benin and Tanzania.”
Sudan and Algeria however had their fortunes reversed as they were moved to lower categories. Sudan which was classified as a lower-middle income country in 2019 is now a low income country, while Algeria moved from upper-middle income to lower-middle income.
“For Sudan, the GNI series for 2009-2018 has been revised as a result of revisions to the exchange rates. The 2018 GNI per capita figure has been revised down to $840 from the previously published figure of $1,560,” the World Bank explained.
The bank also explained that because the classifications use the GNI of the previous year, the data used does not reflect the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The World Bank categorizes economies across the world according to a four-tier ranking: high, upper-middle, lower-middle and low income.
There are currently 81 countries classified as high-income and only two are African. But among the 30 that are low income, 18 can be found on the African continent.
