We don't know why Malawi is poor

# Summary Despite emerging from post-genocide conditions far worse than Malawi's in 1994, Rwanda has since grown its GDP per capita to nearly six times higher, while Malawi's has stagnated and recently declined—yet economists lack a clear explanation for why Malawi lags so far behind comparable countries. Unlike many of the world's poorest nations, Malawi has experienced political stability, peaceful democratic transitions, low corruption, and substantial donor aid, making its persistent poverty a puzzle that standard explanations like conflict, state collapse, or isolation cannot account for.