CAUSES
OF POVERTY IN AFRICA
Excluding
Africa from the rest of the world
In fact, there has
been some growth since 1995 but it's been mostly in the very new services
sector so it created only a few jobs whereas manufacturing and agriculture
could have done much better.
As the British prime
minister declared in 2001 African poverty is "a scar on the conscience of
the world". In recent years, globalization and technological inflation
have made it only worse. It only helped further excluding the continent and widening
the gaps with the rest of the world.
However development
economists and experts from all boards are now approaching the problem from new
angles to provide innovative ways to fight African poverty.
Better yet, some
African countries are now emerging as real economic powers thanks to better
leadership and deals with foreign investors to build infrastructure. Let's see
how all that improves our understanding of poverty in Africa, the plague of a
continent.
Globalization &
causes of poverty in Africa
Better off rich or
poor?
Aside from political
and social reasons (e.g. corruption, ethnic violence), many economists argue
that the absence of economic growth is in part due to a detrimental geography
that impacts on the economy. But in many cases,
oil-rich African countries are also more likely to be exploited by other
countries or powerful corporations who always find a way to not pay much-needed
taxes (billions and billions of dollars).
In most developing
countries, disparities pose the problem of redistribution of wealth, but many
African countries are simply too poor to redistribute anything. The average
income level is sometimes so low that even working people live under poverty.
So, how do you fix that?
Free trade agreements
against the African continent
International trade
policies, for example, are incomparably more important than international aid
to end African poverty and help its countries to integrate the global market.
Surprising ? Not that much considering the global competition that the continent
has to face: not only are the US, the European Union protecting their key
industries (especially those that Africa could compete with, like agriculture),
but now Asian countries also got in the game, spearheaded by India and China.
With each of them seeking
to protect their benefits, the international community should rather give
preferential market conditions to poor countries (e.g. for export or
agricultural development). This would provide them a path to fast development,
and hopefully diffuse the benefits to inner regions. In that way the internal
market could also thrive and help alleviate poverty in African countries that
are landlocked.
Africa is not poor,
others made it that way
"I come from the
richest country in the world. It is located in the richest continent in the
world. That country is called Sierra Leone." (Mallence Bart-Williams)
Here's the transcript
of the beginning of the video and you'll understand very quickly what she's
talking about. . "On the surface
we are blessed with infinite beauty and abundance of flora and fauna. Producing
the most exquisite harvest of coffee, cocoa, fruits, vegetables... and culture.
You name it, we've got it. We also have diverse
wildlife and vast marine resources. [...] A true paradise. They also had the
first modern university in Africa and prior to that the first university in the
world was founded in the kingdom of Timbuktu.
At a deeper level we
are blessed with the real treasures that the kings and queens of this world
desire. Diamonds and gold are commonly found in people's backyards. You'll also
find about 20 precious minerals and recently huge oil reserves have also been
discovered.
·
Platinum
·
Iron ore (the largest in Africa)
·
Zinc
·
Chrome
·
Phosphate
·
Potassium
·
Nickel
·
Exquisite timber like mahogany and teak
... all the stuff that
goes straight into your computers, laptops and mobile devices.
The West needs
Africa's resources desperately to make and power airplanes, computers
and engines. But not just the West anymore, pretty much everyone including China
are in the same boat."
From dictators
established by Western governments, to foreign companies operating all
over (I mean "mining the hell out of ") Africa without paying any
real tax, nearly everyone is exploiting the continent.
Barriers to poverty
reduction
So far local
governments, international aid and market reforms had only a minimal effect on
the population. Consequence: people have had to solve their problems on their
own, outside the system. It is only recently that new international policies,
such as the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) in Africa, have
stopped overlooking the effect of politics on local economies:
·
Transparent and accountable government
·
Rule of law
·
Public resources management
·
Free and fair election
·
Active civil society
All of these are now
recognized as a vital factor of poverty alleviation. This whole forms what
specialists now call “good governance”.
Considering the extent
of corruption and violence of local councils and governments, it’s not
surprising that a huge part of the African population can only fend for itself
most of the time, relying on a makeshift economy. This makes them hard to reach
by international aid but at least they have an alternative system to fall back
upon: coping through sharing. Not only farmers in rural areas but African
urbanites as well manage to avoid the claws of the law. This makes many
development policies totally ineffective.
More transparency,
less corruption
Another issue is that
of international aid. Aid donors obviously want to make sure that their money
is put to the right use, rather than to building palaces for individual use.
Now how things have changed is that foreign aid has become demand-driven with
local communities, governments and NGOs competing to receive the funds. This
should help foster competitiveness and efficiency of development projects as
well as transparency. In other words it should radically reduce corruption and
embezzlement.
This model was field
tested and can help avoid the case of the African Millennium Villages, blindly
“shooting” money in every direction in a local community, like a crazy action
hero who doesn't believe in nuances and complexities of real life.
What is needed is
targeted funding that provides new opportunities and incentives for people to
participate in the development of their country. Humanitarian aid remains way
too opaque, only the most concrete and effective programs should remain. In
particular those that help local entrepreneurs, not multinationals.
Geography and regional
poverty in Africa
Too poor to
redistribute anything?
Recently specialists
have increasingly taken into account the role of geography to explain the
absence of economic growth and the aggravation of poverty in Africa. Whereas in
many developing countries there are disparities that pose the problem of
redistribution of wealth, Africa is simply too poor to redistribute anything.
Well that's not totally
true. Africa is full of natural resources, but to give just one example many
multinational companies that extract these resources don't even pay any taxes
to the country where they operate. In other cases, it's simply that the local
aristocracy keeps all the revenues to itself.
The African paradox:
it's both rich and poor
So poverty in Africa
is paradoxical: the continent is made of 54 countries of low population density
and rich in natural resources. Of course, as usual the resources are not evenly
distributed between regions, countries and within local populations.
The countries are
separated into resource-rich and -poor and into coastal and landlocked ones.
Across all categories, most countries have remained stuck with a GDP per capita
below $2000 for the past six decades.
The need for tailored
development
Unlike other
continents, a great share of the population in Africa lives in landlocked,
resource-scarce countries which accounts for 1% of its overall growth rate.
Another consequence of this is that policymakers need to start thinking in
terms of context-based development strategies rather than continent-based ones.
In particular
concerning the resource-poor landlocked regions which will remain the very core
of the African poverty puzzle. A puzzle that year after year became obviously
unsolvable in a day. These very countries are the ones that would need a sort
of targeted, continuous aid flow in order to steadily raise consumption levels,
therefore consistently reducing poorness in Africa. Nevertheless, today's aid
flows only focus on short-term emergencies.
Impact of poverty on health
Almost half of the
population in Africa suffers from water-related diseases. On top of
insufficient hygiene education, the frequent inundations (and lack of risk
prevention) play an important role: in Mozambique over 1 million people were
displaced by the floods of 1999/2000 and an unknown number killed.
Diseases: a threat to
development
Diseases
in Africa – and in particular HIV-AIDS – are another major threat to economic
development. As an academic (Whiteside 2002) puts it: “one of the main
consequences of the disease is that it impoverishes individuals, households and
communities”, thus further entrenching the roots of poverty in Africa.
This is a vicious
cycle by which poverty boosts the spread of HIV which in turn increases
poverty. The case of the poor in South Africa shows that despite the country's
substantial growth, that wealth is still too concentrated in the hands of an
"uninfected" minority. That way the gap between the rich and the poor
only gets bigger and bigger, making it harder for impoverished populations to
catch up with the well-off.
Hygiene and sanitation
first
As for basic
sanitation and hygiene, it is first and foremost an educational issue. Hygienic
habits have consistently prevented millions of deaths across the world in the
past decades. And just like in all the countries where it happened, massive
full-scale educational campaigns are needed to significantly alleviate poverty
in Africa.
Education & schools in Africa
Education - A
neglected cause of poverty
Starting to feel
slightly overwhelmed? We're just talking about everyday life poverty here! ...
So, not only does proper education help eradicate a great deal of diseases
(STIs, sanitation, etc), but there is also a direct link between levels of
education and poverty. Authoritarian rule in
most countries has only made the situation worse, deepening both levels of
education and poverty in Africa. For that reason, although some argue that
authoritarian regimes can better spur development in some cases (China,
Singapore,…), but in this case democracy seems more appropriate for the case of
Africa.
Is democracy better
suited to Africa?
Experts who hold this
argument ground it on several factors including: the multi-ethnics nature of
most countries (better representation of everyone’s interests), the need for
better governance and redistribution of the riches in absence of strong
political will, and pervasiveness of corruption that drives people away from
the legal and institutional life. But the experience of
democracy in the West has also resulted as we've seen with the protests in 2011
that most of rich countries' wealth eventually ended up in the hands of a very
small elite.
Education to gain
skills first and foremost
Even though many fancy
universities tend to forget it, education is in general about teaching people
skills (duh), thereby enhancing productivity, creativity, and exchanges. Higher education is
crucial to bring Africa back into the world system (yes it’s been kind of left
aside) and bridge the digital gap with other continents. What we need is then
consistent education in ICTs on top of developing the infrastructure (optic
fiber, antennas, electricity grids,...) so that people can benefit from an
advanced use of ICTs and harness their economic potential. Obviously on a
priority list of fighting poverty in Africa, this comes after meeting the most
basic needs such as food, water, health, energy,... How could you possibly
charge a computer's battery without electricity in your town? Yet they did that
mistake a few years ago and sent thousands of laptops.
Food and water
Hunger, a typical
feature of African poverty ?
In the past 30 years
only sub-Saharan Africa saw no improvement in fight against malnutrition and
hunger in Africa (or several types of malnutrition). Currently there is an
estimated 80% of Africans who suffer from hunger, and 30% of whom are children.
Despite the current levels of poverty in
Nigeria and in Zimbabwe, these countries were part of the group
that manage to reduce its underweight population between 1976 and 1995.
On the other hand just
as many countries - a dozen - were suffering from sharp rises in
under-nutrition. The worst case is that of poverty in Ethiopia which left over a million people
underfed. The plight of hunger is undoubtedly one of the most severe effects of
poverty in Africa, where it is incomparably harsher than in most other places.
Water, diseases &
geography
"All peoples,
whatever their stage of development and their social and economic conditions,
have the right to have access to drinking water in quantities and of a quality
equal to their basic needs". More than 30 years
after this statement, more than 50% of Africans still suffer from water-related
diseases (cholera, diarrhea). Although the continent is blessed with large
rivers such as the Congo, the Nile, the Zambezi and the Niger, uneven
geographical distribution causes sharp shortages of water in Africa. History has
shown that despite technical, financial, economic and institutional support in
water-related projects, poor governance has been a major factor in ruining
those efforts and resources.
The causes and effects
of poverty in Africa are fueling a seriously vicious cycle that
stops Africans from getting the most basic services. It affects simple water
supply, sanitation, health care and education in incredibly diverse ways. Ultimately it becomes
so all-pervasive that it overwhelms the application of the very best practices
drawn from past lessons. The way out of poverty
in Africa is therefore hardly imaginable without the constructive and
appropriate help and cooperation of the international community, along with
(increasingly) that of private businesses from other countries.
REFERENCES
·
A Pro-Poor Urban Agenda for Africa: Clarifying Ecological and
Development Issues for Poor and Vulnerable Populations, Joel Bolnick et al.,
Human Settlements Discussion Paper Series IIED 2006
·
Africa's Counter-Cyclical Policy Responses to the Crisis, Louis Kasekende
et al., Journal of Globalization and Development 2010
·
The African Millennium Villages, Pedro Sanchez et al., National
Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2007
·
Education, Democracy and Poverty Reduction in Africa, Clive
Harber, Comparative Education 2002
·
Challenges to Meet: Food and Nutrition Security in the New
Millennium, Michael Lipton, Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 2001
·
Globalization, Growth, Inequality, and Poverty in Africa: A
Macroeconomic Perspective, Jeffery I. Round, The Poor under Globalization in
Asia, Latin America, and Africa 2010
·
Governance and Poverty Reduction in Africa, Goran Hyden,
National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2007
·
ICT & Education in Africa: Partnership, Practice &
Knowledge Sharing, Tim Unwin, Review of African Political Economy 2004
·
The New Economic History of Africa, A.G. Hopkins, Journal of
African History 2009
·
Nutrition Security, Livelihoods and HIV/AIDS: Implications for
Research Among Farm Worker Households in South Africa, S Lemke, Public Health
Nutrition 2004
·
Epidemiological and Nutrition Transition in Developing
Countries: Impact on Human Health and Development, Paul Amuna and Francis B.
Zotor, Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 2008
·
Poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa, Alan Whiteside, Third World
Quarterly 2002
·
Poverty Reduction in Africa, Paul Collier, National Academy of
Sciences of the United States of America 2007
·
Mysteries and Myths: De Soto, Proverty and Poverty in South
Africa, Rosalie Kingwill et al., IIED 2005
·
Does Living in an Urban Environment Confer Advantages for
Childhood Nutritional Status? Analysis of Disparities in Nutritional Status by
Wealth and Residence in Angola, Central African Republic and Senegal, Gina
Kennedy et al., Public Health Nutrition 2005
·
Sierra Leone – Investing in Nutrition to Reduce Poverty: a Call
for Action, Victor M Aguayo et al., Public Health Nutrition 2003
·
Responding to the Crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa: the Role of
Nutrition, Mickey Chopra and Ian Darnton-Hill, Public Health Nutrition 2006
·
Water for Basic Needs, Len Abrams, World Health Organisation
2001
·
The Facts on Water in Africa, WWF 2002
·
Water Sector Governance in Africa, Water Partnership Program
(WPP) of the African Development Bank 2008
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