Sorry for bumping this thead, but actually there are lot more people than we're being told, especially in Africa:
>Nigeria - 600,000,000+
>South Africa - 500,000,000+
>D.R. Congo - 200,000,000+
>Central African Republic - 20,000,000+
The reason these numbers are lowered officially (by their own governments as well as international organisations) is to lessen the "responsibility" to help them in times of crisis but also to get more money from other countries. See, if there are less people to help, it sounds like an easier task and as such more people are likely to want to help them; it's also a much lesser responsibility, so people in the west won't feel as bad about not being able to change how shitty things are for them. It also makes it easier for fucked up governments to discriminate against their citizens, since so many people don't officially exist, and to steal the money sent to them by the west.