Washington: The World Bank reported Tuesday that “frontier market” economies, largely composed of middle-income diversities, have largely failed to realize their potential in recent years, with per capita investment in the 2020s being less than half of what it was in the 2010s.

According to Anadolu Agency, the World Bank emphasized in a statement that these economies have made little progress in attracting investment since 2000. The rate of per capita investment growth has gradually slowed over the last 25 years, falling to just 2% in the 2020s.

The report highlighted that frontier market economies currently account for only 3.1% of global capital inflows and less than 5% of global economic output. More than a third of these economies are located in Sub-Saharan Africa, many of which are rich in minerals essential for new technologies related to renewable energy, telecommunications, and consumer electronics.

World Bank chief economist Indermit Gill remarked, “Excluding a handful of economies that have become investment grade over the past 25 years, frontier markets may well be the biggest disappointment in economic development.” The statement suggests that there are lessons to be learned from the top performers among frontier markets for the 56 economies currently in this cluster.