List of at risk economies in Africa that are not considered fragile states

Despite growth in Africa concerning governance, peacebuilding, and economic growth, some countries continue to face deep-seated instability. Surprisingly, several of these countries are not formally categorized as “fragile states” or “fragile regions,” despite their lived experiences indicating otherwise.

Business Insider Africa presents the list of FCS economies that are not considered fragile states.
This list is courtesy of data from a report by the World Bank.
While some countries are conflict zones, they are not considered fragile.

This difference indicates inadequacies in how fragility is characterized, emphasizing the need to reconsider global measures for measuring conflict and vulnerability.

According to a report by the World Bank, Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations (FCS) are nations with weak institutions, continuous violence, or post-conflict rehabilitation issues.

While certain nations, such as Burundi, Chad, Comoros, Zimbabwe, São Tomé and Príncipe and few others are currently recognized as fragile, others, such as Ethiopia, Cameroon, and Mozambique, are experiencing comparable instability but are not always consistently flagged as fragile on global indexes.

The Democratic Republic Congo's vast mineral riches have long been the source of conflict in the troubled central African country — The Democratic Republic Congo’s vast mineral riches have long been the source of conflict in the troubled central African country

“Economies in fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCS) are home to around one billion people,” the report states.

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“These 39 economies comprise a mix of low and middle-income economies, spread across all regions, with Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) accounting for about one-half, East Asia and the Pacific for about one-fifth, and the Middle East and North Africa for nearly one-sixth,” it adds.

The World Bank’s reference to fragile countries denotes that these countries are facing significant development challenges owing to conflict, poor institutions, or vulnerability to external shocks.

Fragility can result from prolonged armed conflict, widespread violence, political instability, or the breakdown of fundamental governance mechanisms.

In many situations, governments in unstable states struggle to deliver basic services, uphold the rule of law, and keep the peace.

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Corruption, inadequate administrative ability, and poor infrastructure are all frequent in such environments.

Furthermore, fragile countries are more vulnerable to external shocks such as economic downturns, natural disasters, and widespread displacement.

These vulnerabilities frequently intensify existing tough conditions, exacerbating poverty and limiting development progress.

However, some countries, as per the World Bank’s report, are towing a thin line of being in a fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCS), and not being considered fragile regions.

With that said, here are the African countries that are not currently considered fragile states, despite being high risk.