The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a numerical value derived from an adult’s height and weight, used as a screening tool to estimate whether they are within a healthy weight range.
BMI is calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared (Kg/m2). Although it doesn’t account for muscle mass, bone density, or fat distribution, BMI is widely used to classify people as underweight if their BMI is below 18.5. Healthy weight BMI ranges between 18.5 and 24.9.
Those scoring a BMI between 25.0 and 29.9 are classified as overweight. Anyone with a BMI of 30 and above is said to be obese.
The African continent can similarly be classified as being underweight, as having a healthy weight, as being overweight or obese in various parameters, as compared with its rightful share on any indicator vis-à-vis the world.
It’s imperative for Africa to prioritize efforts to convert underweight areas to at least their rightful weight, or to overweight them if not obese.
This is paramount for the continent to earn its due respect in the community of nations and to maintain the right and just balance in the global social, political, and economic order.
Base Parameters of Africa’s Real Weight on the Global Weighing Scale
In terms of landmass, the ranking of the seven continents from the largest to the smallest comprises: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia (Oceania).
Asia’s land area is 44,614,000 km2, accounting for 29.8 percent of the world’s landmass of 149,733,926 km2. Africa is ranked second with its 30,365,000 km2, posting a share of 20.3 percent of the earth’s land area.
North America (US, Mexico, Canada) covers 24,230,000 km2, accounting for 16.2 percent.
South America’s share of the globe’s land area is 11.9 percent at 17,814,000 km2. Antarctica, at 14,200,000 km2, is ranked 5th, with a 9.5 percent share of the global landmass.
Europe, at 10,000,000 km2, is ranked 6th, comprising 6.7 percent of the world’s land area, while Australia (Oceania) is ranked last at 7th, with 8,510,926 km2.
We can therefore use Africa’s share of global landmass at 20.3 percent as a target benchmark to measure its rightful share in the world and compare with the other six continents across other parameters and indicators.
In terms of population, the world was estimated to have 7,909,295,151 people in 2021, spread across six continents, with the seventh, Antarctica, uninhabited.
Asia was the most populous continent, with its 4,694,576,167 constituting a whopping 59.4 percent of the earth’s population. Africa followed with 1,393,676,444 people, comprising 17.6 percent of the global population.
Europe’s population of 745,173,774 ranked 3rd, with a share of 9.4% worldwide. North America’s 595,783,465 people were ranked 4th with a world share of 7.5 percent.
South America’s population, at 434,254,119, ranked 5th with a 5.5 percent share of the Earth’s population, while Australia (Oceania), at 44,491,724, was the least populous, with a low share of just 0.6 percent of the total global population. We can therefore use Africa’s share of the global population, at 17.6 percent, as a benchmark to measure Africa’s rightful share in the world and compare it with the other six continents across many other parameters and indicators.
Overweight Areas Africa Needs to Leverage to Grow Its Global Share in Other Aspects.
Africa is overweight with approximately 60–65% of the world’s arable and uncultivated land. The continent holds approximately 30% of the world’s known mineral reserves, including roughly 40% of all gold, 90% of chromium and platinum, and over 50% of the world’s cobalt.
Africa is also a critical source of green-technology minerals, with significant reserves of lithium and copper.
Africa has the world’s youngest population, with approximately 60% of its inhabitants under the age of 25.
As of recent estimates, Africa holds over 20% of the world’s youth population, and this demographic is projected to grow significantly, with young Africans expected to make up 42% of the world’s youth by 2030
Underweight Areas Africa Needs to Amass Weight and Reclaims its Global Share
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) 2025 estimates, Africa is severely malnourished and underweight in terms of GDP.
Africa was ranked 5th worldwide with its USD$3.05 trillion GDP constituting merely 2.6 percent of the global GDP of USD$117.16 trillion.
Asia’s share of global GDP stood at USD 42.18 trillion, accounting for 36 percent, with China, India, and Japan dominating. North America stood at USD 35.58 trillion, equivalent to 30.4 percent of the world’s GDP, with the USA dominating.
Europe’s GDP of USD 29.67 trillion accounted for 25.3 percent of the world’s GDP, with Germany, the UK, France, and Italy dominating.
South America’s economy, valued at USD 4.4 trillion, accounted for 3.8 percent of the world’s GDP, with Brazil leading the continent. Africa, therefore, faces a Herculean task of rapidly growing its rightful share of global GDP from 2.6 percent to a level between its global population share of 17.6 percent and its share of global landmass at 20.3 percent.
World Bank per capita income classification of countries is used to reflect a country or continent’s level of development and potentially influence its development trajectory while affecting its eligibility for Official Development Assistance (ODA) and concessional low-cost long-term foreign currency funding by multilateral and bilateral Development Financial Institutions- DFIs.
The current World Bank income classification as of July 1, 2025 (new, for FY26) lists low-income countries or continents as those with an annual per capita income of USD 1,135.
Countries or continents are classified as lower-middle-income if they have a gross average annual per capita income between USD 1,136 and USD 4,495. Upper-middle-income countries or continents are those that post an annual per capita income between USD 4,496 and USD 13,935. High-income countries or continents are those with gross income over USD 13,936 per annum.
The IMF’s 2025 data estimated the world’s annual GDP per capita at USD 14,613, which is in the high-income range. North America leads with an annual GDP per capita of $58,947, followed by Australia (Oceania) at $44,152, and Europe is third at $44,152, placing all these regions in the high-income category.
South America is fourth with USD $11,258, while Asia is ranked fifth with USD $9,323, placing both continents in the upper-middle-income class.
Africa has the lowest annual per capita income, with purchasing power and a standard of living that are low at merely USD 2,606, placing it in the lower-middle-income category.
The work is cut out for Africa to bootstrap all efforts to move the continent from its current lower middle income category (USD$ 1,136 – USD$ 4,495) to the upper middle income class (USD$ 4,496 – USD$13,935) and eventually for its citizens to enjoy high standards of living as a high income continent grossing an annual per capita income of over USD$13,936 per annum.
According to the FAO and the World Bank, the net output of the agriculture sector, after adding all outputs and subtracting intermediate inputs, is heavily concentrated in Asia, though different continents show varied growth trends and shares of GDP.
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The total global agriculture, forestry, and fishing value-added reached roughly $4.0 trillion in 2023, with Asia accounting for 62.2% of the sector’s global value-added as of 2018, driven heavily by China and India. In North and South America, agriculture is driven by large-scale production in the USA and Brazil (both ranked top 5 globally).
Latin America, specifically, shows significant investment and growth in agriculture. Europe, while contributing to global agricultural value added, has shown lower, slower growth than other regions, with its relative share shrinking over the past decades.
Oceania (Australia) has a smaller, stable contribution to global agricultural output (around 2-3% of global GDP). Africa has the fastest-growing agricultural sector, with its agricultural value added more than doubling from USD 200 billion in 2000 to USD 425 billion in 2021, equivalent to 10.62 percent of global agricultural value added in 2023.
Since Africa has to use its overweight status with an approximately 60–65% of the world’s arable and uncultivated land and about 10% of the world’s internal renewable freshwater resources to overcome the challenges of by low agricultural productivity and high dependence on food imports to become the ‘’food basket of the world’’ by growing its share of global agricultural a]value added from 10.62 percent to between its global population share of 17.6 percent and Africa’s share of global landmass at 20.3 percent
UNIDO’s World Manufacturing Production 2025 Q1 report shows that Africa is chronically malnourished in manufacturing. Asia and Oceania share in the world’s Manufacturing Value Added – MVA (2015, in %) was the highest worldwide at a whopping 51 percent, with China alone accounting for 26.7 percent of global MVA, hence justifiably earning the title of ‘’factory of the world’’.
Europe was second with 22.4 percent of the earth’s MVA. North America came third with a share of 19.1 percent of global
manufacturing value added, while Latin America and the Caribbean posted 5.6 percent. Africa’s share of global manufacturing value added is a meager 1.9 percent.
Africa, therefore, faces a Titanic assignment: rapidly growing its rightful share of global Manufacturing Value Added from 1.9 percent to a level between its global population share of 17.6 percent and its share of global landmass at 20.3 percent.
In terms of the 2023 distribution of global trade by continent, Asian exporters accounted for 9.66 trillion, or 41.5 percent, of the overall USD 24.487 trillion in globally exported products shipped in the year.
In second place were European exporters, who grossed $8.594 trillion in overseas exports, accounting for 36.9 percent of global exports.
North America was third with USD 3.181 trillion in worldwide exports, constituting 13.7 percent. Latin America and Caribbean was fourth after grossing exports worth USD$803.6 billion to comprise 3.5 percent of global exports in 2023. Africa was ranked fifth, posting an underwhelming low of USD 614.6 billion in annual global exports, which constitutes an underweight 2.6 percent of the world’s exports in 2023. Oceania (Australia) ranked sixth, exporting USD 430.7 billion, which accounted for 2.3 percent of global exports.
Africa, therefore, faces the colossal task of rapidly growing its rightful share of global exports from an abysmal 2.6 percent to between its global population share of 17.6 percent and Africa’s share of global landmass at 20.3 percent.
