Africa’s post colonial economic performance has been gloomy and prospects
for the new millennium are equally dismal. Sub-Saharan Africa, consisting of 48countries, is the least developed region of the Third World despite its immense wealth in mineral and natural resources. Indices of human development have performed abysmally. Since 1990, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has ranked 162 countries in terms of their progress on human development, using the Human Development Index (HDI). It determines the overall achievements in a country in three basic dimensions of human development; longevity, knowledge and a decent standard of living. It is measured by life expectancy, educational attainment (adult literacy and combined primary, secondary and tertiary enrolment) and adjusted income per capita in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) compared with the US dollars.
