Since 1971, when the least developed countries (LDCs) category was created by the United Nations, sub-Saharan African countries have dominated the list. The paper reveals that most African LDCs were unable to capitalize on the commodity price boom of the early 2000s before the 2008–2009 global financial crisis and notes that despite experiencing high growth rates, the continent has seen little structural transformation to support this. It also finds that African LDC economies remain less diversified with correspondingly little complexity and low productive capacities, meaning they have been highly susceptible to and often adversely affected by falling commodity prices in recent history.