The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has significantly downgraded on July 19, its growth forecasts for Sub-Saharan Africa in 2016, mainly as a result of deceiving performances of its two principal economies : Nigeria and South Africa.

In its global outlook on economy, the fund said Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy should grow 1.6% this year or 1.4pt less than forecast released in April 2016, a significant drop compared from 2015’s 3.3%.

The performance is mainly due to the sharp drop of the Nigerian economy, which still strongly depends on oil and gas. Africa’s largest economy should indeed have its GDP fall by 1.8% this year despite being projected to grow by 2.3% three months ago.

The South African economy for its part is heading toward recession this year. Its GDP should grow by 0.1% only.

IMF also warned about the “dramatic implication” of the slowdown of growth in Sub-Saharan economies in the fight against poverty.

“In 2016, regional output growth will fall short of population growth, implying declining per capita incomes,” said IMF chief economist Maury Obstfeld.

About 43% of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa lives with less than $2 per day, according to data from World Bank.