Gross Domestic Product by Arable Land in Africa

The chart above shows economic output as it relates to arable land.  The countries to the top left have a larger ratio of gross domestic product (GDP) to arable land, while countries to the bottom right have a smaller ratio of GDP to arable land.  Singapore, Hong Kong, and Bahrain have the largest ratio of GDP to area whereas Afghanistan, Cambodia, and Kazakhstan have the smallest ratio of GDP to area.

Findings

• Two countries have a GDP per square kilometer of arable land of over 100 million international dollars.
• Niger has the smallest ratio of GDP to arable land with an economy of just over 138,000 times that of its arable land in square kilometers.
• Djibouti has the largest ratio of GDP to arable land with an economy of over 406 million times that of its arable land in square kilometers.
• Only seven countries make over 10 million international dollars per square kilometer of arable land.

Caveats

• Arable land may be a better attribute to use than total land area because it indicates where people are willing to live however, countries are likely to have resources beyond what can be found within their arable lands.
• Cape Verde, Congo, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Mayotte, Réunion, Sao Tome and Principe, Somalia, South Sudan, Western Sahara, and Zimbabwe were missing data.

Details

As has been the case with previous metrics studied, there are no geographic clusters on this continent, unlike Europe and Asia.  Countries that do well in this metric come from every corner of the continent and the same goes for countries that do not do so well.

The only surprising thing is that Egypt doesn't dominate here as it has very little arable land and a large population with a sizable GDP.

Data

Code	Country	Arable Land (square km)	GDP (in millions)	GDP Per Square Kilometer
NE	Niger	155,841	21,655	138,955.73
CF	Central African Republic	18,067	3,411	188,797.25
TG	Togo	25,674	12,494	486,640.18
MW	Malawi	45,267	22,577	498,751.85
GN	Guinea	29,016	17,056	587,813.62
ML	Mali	69,451	40,974	589,969.91
SD	Sudan	292,566	186,715	638,197.88
LR	Liberia	5,793	3,960	683,583.64
SL	Sierra Leone	16,778	11,551	688,461.08
BI	Burundi	10,814	8,024	742,001.11
MZ	Mozambique	51,162	38,000	742,738.75
BF	Burkina Faso	44,710	35,000	782,822.63
TD	Chad	35,258	29,730	843,212.89
BJ	Benin	25,785	25,407	985,340.31
GW	Guinea-Bissau	2,960	3,089	1,043,581.08
UG	Uganda	82,663	91,212	1,103,419.91
MG	Madagascar	35,220	40,055	1,137,279.95
ET	Ethiopia	167,854	194,980	1,161,604.73
TZ	Tanzania	135,464	163,522	1,207,125.14
ER	Eritrea	7,997	9,678	1,210,203.83
SN	Senegal	34,226	43,326	1,265,879.74
KM	Comoros	1,046	1,329	1,270,554.49
CM	Cameroon	62,277	81,535	1,309,231.34
ZM	Zambia	36,125	65,000	1,799,307.96
CD	Democratic Republic of the Congo	37,518	69,000	1,839,117.22
RW	Rwanda	12,361	24,717	1,999,595.5
LS	Lesotho	3,066	7,287	2,376,712.33
KE	Kenya	56,879	164,340	2,889,291.3
NG	Nigeria	344,577	1,124,627	3,263,790.1
NA	Namibia	8,243	27,451	3,330,219.58
MA	Morocco	78,155	300,556	3,845,640.07
MR	Mauritania	4,124	17,421	4,224,296.8
GH	Ghana	28,393	130,000	4,578,593.32
TN	Tunisia	29,939	139,000	4,642,773.64
LY	Libya	17,595	87,067	4,948,394.43
AO	Angola	33,038	193,935	5,870,058.72
ZA	South Africa	120,691	761,926	6,313,030.8
SZ	Swaziland	1,701	11,352	6,673,721.34
DZ	Algeria	73,833	634,746	8,597,050.1
BW	Botswana	3,492	39,000	11,168,384.88
GA	Gabon	3,212	36,000	11,207,970.11
GQ	Equatorial Guinea	1,208	30,807	25,502,483.44
MU	Mauritius	764	27,507	36,003,926.7
EG	Egypt	28,042	1,197,967	42,720,455.03
SC	Seychelles	10	2,761	276,100,000
DJ	Djibouti	9	3,658	406,444,444.44

Sources

"Report for Selected Countries and Subjects."  https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2017/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=43&pr.y=19&sy=2017&ey=2017&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=512%2C672%2C914%2C946%2C612%2C137%2C614%2C546%2C311%2C962%2C213%2C674%2C911%2C676%2C193%2C548%2C122%2C556%2C912%2C678%2C313%2C181%2C419%2C867%2C513%2C682%2C316%2C684%2C913%2C273%2C124%2C868%2C339%2C921%2C638%2C948%2C514%2C943%2C218%2C686%2C963%2C688%2C616%2C518%2C223%2C728%2C516%2C558%2C918%2C138%2C748%2C196%2C618%2C278%2C624%2C692%2C522%2C694%2C622%2C142%2C156%2C449%2C626%2C564%2C628%2C565%2C228%2C283%2C924%2C853%2C233%2C288%2C632%2C293%2C636%2C566%2C634%2C964%2C238%2C182%2C662%2C359%2C960%2C453%2C423%2C968%2C935%2C922%2C128%2C714%2C611%2C862%2C321%2C135%2C243%2C716%2C248%2C456%2C469%2C722%2C253%2C942%2C642%2C718%2C643%2C724%2C939%2C576%2C644%2C936%2C819%2C961%2C172%2C813%2C132%2C199%2C646%2C733%2C648%2C184%2C915%2C524%2C134%2C361%2C652%2C362%2C174%2C364%2C328%2C732%2C258%2C366%2C656%2C734%2C654%2C144%2C336%2C146%2C263%2C463%2C268%2C528%2C532%2C923%2C944%2C738%2C176%2C578%2C534%2C537%2C536%2C742%2C429%2C866%2C433%2C369%2C178%2C744%2C436%2C186%2C136%2C925%2C343%2C869%2C158%2C746%2C439%2C926%2C916%2C466%2C664%2C112%2C826%2C111%2C542%2C298%2C967%2C927%2C443%2C846%2C917%2C299%2C544%2C582%2C941%2C474%2C446%2C754%2C666%2C698%2C668&s=PPPGDP&grp=0&a=.  International Monetary Fund.

US Department of State.  2017.  "The World Factbook."  Accessed September 21, 2017.  https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2147.html.