Rich getting richer, poor getting poorer? Africa’s inequality struggle
Almost one out of every two Africans survives on $1.25 a day or less, and the continent hosts six out of 10 of the world’s most unequal countries. Africa’s population is projected to triple to 1.25 billion by 2050, but youth prospects remain dire across the board. In Ethiopia and Nigeria, the continent’s largest economy, the majority of young people get by on less than $2 a day.
“On the one hand you hear glowing stories of growth and prosperity, shiny new buildings being built, big cars, nice homes, and lots of consumption. But Africa is producing bigger and bigger numbers of poor people, so poor so desperate” says Ali Mufuruki, CEO of Tanzania’s Infotech Investment Group and member of the International Monetary Fund’s Group on sub-Saharan Africa.
He adds that the growth statistics measure only those who are active participants in the economy, leaving out the marginalized masses who often find themselves in sporadic, informal employment.
