An essentially African phenomenon

Xavier Sala-i-Martin (2005):

This disappointing performance [of African economies], together with the great success of the other two poor regions of the world (East and South Asia) means that the majority of the world's poor now live in Africa. Indeed, Africa accounted for only 14.5 percent of the world's poor in 1970. Today, despite the fact that Africa accounts for only 10 percent of the world population, it accounts for 67.8 percent of the world's poor (see the bottom panel of Table II). Poverty, once an essentially Asian phenomenon, has become an essentially African phenomenon.