Africa is a continent marked by stark contrasts. While it is home to some of the world’s billionaires, over 50 percent of the global poor also reside there. The wealth of the seven richest Africans surpasses that of the poorest half of the continent’s population. Despite having enough arable land to potentially feed the entire global population, more than half of Africa’s population struggles with food insecurity. Exacerbating the situation is the severe level of poverty, which is so deep-rooted that without sustained effort to ensure inclusivity, many Africans will continue to hover just above the poverty line during prosperous times, only to fall back into poverty when negative shock hit.
Beyond the circumstantial factors (exposure to shocks), several structural factors explain the persistence of poverty over the last decades – low poverty-reduction effect of economic growth, tight fiscal space, global financial and trade barriers, food insecurity, as well as conflicts and insecurity. Recent estimates suggest that about 84.3 per cent of the multidimensionally poor live in Africa (556 million). Additionally,Africa’s structural transformation has not been accompanied by productivity gains in agriculture and other sectors. Rather, it has primarily been the result of reduced share of labour in agricultural sector and increased demand for goods and services produced in the modern sectors of the economy.
The mega-trends present both challenges and opportunities for Africa. On the demographic front, Africa will have the youngest population by 2050 as the rest of the world ages. This means Africa will have the labour force, but this requires building their capacities as well as providing job opportunities, essential for addressing unemployment and reducing poverty. While Africa didn’t contribute to climate change, it is most affected by it. Here, thanks to green minerals, it can help the rest of world find solutions to fight climate change. Given the fast pace of urbanization, African cities need to be better planned to harness the benefits from urbanization as six in 10 people will live in urban areas by 2050. Lastly, technological revolution can be used to improve the efficiency of government services.