Growth Poverty Inequality Relationships (GPIR)

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    A Lifeless Help for the South Africans in Crisis
    (African Economic Research Consortium, 2023-07) Omotayo, Abiodun Olusola; Ogunniyi, Adebayo Isaiah
    COVID-19 has highlighted the critical role of adequate investments in the public health systems and comprehensive social protection programmes. Many South Africans suffer from a poor quality of life. The COVID-19 pandemic worsened the crisis, increased by the weak and poorly implemented social protection programs offered by the government. Hence, the central contention here was that poor health and income is disproportionately borne by the poor in South Africa and that such income related health inequalities appear to have become substantially more pronounced in the COVID-19 era relative to the pre-COVID-19 period. Despite the existence of the hypothesis of inverse relationship between the injection of the South Africa Social Security Grant (SASSG) on poverty status and income-related health inequality in some instances, we dwelled on the positive relationship between these variables. Therefore, we hypothesized that the economic dislocation caused by the COVID-19 disproportionately affects the South African poor.
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    A Poor Man’s Portfolio?
    (African Economic Research Consortium, 2023-08) Mbara, Gilbert
    Over the 10-year period between 2005 and 2015, Kenya experienced a significant decrease in both wealth and income inequality. This decline in inequality has been characterized by a fall in both the income and wealth shares of the POLICY BRIEF A Poor Man’s Portfolio? Gilbert Mbara July 2023 / No.GPIR-PB-CC003 richest members of the population, as well as modest gains for the poorest. This is contrary to what has been observed in many advanced countries where inequality has been on the rise. To understand why the Kenyan experience has been different, we investigate macroeconomic variables linked to top-end income and wealth inequality.
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    Do Schools Really Divide the Togolese?
    (African Economic Research Consortium, 2023-07) Koudjom, Etayibtalnam; Ngoko, Eric H.; Limazie, Mazignada S.; Mafang, Lionie
    Equality in education means that all young people, regardless of their background, socio-economic origin, and physical environment, should have equal opportunities to access the education system at all levels. Togo’s education system is characterized by a dichotomy of educational choices between government and private schools. The increase in the number of private schools since the liberalization of the education sector in the 1990s has led to a rapid growth in private schools throughout the country in general and in some of its regions in particular.
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    Educated and Healthy, yet Poor
    (African Economic Research Consortium, 2023-07) Edeh, Henry; Ozor, Jane
    Nigeria has experienced significant economic growth over the past two decades, averaging 6% per annum in gross domestic product(GDP). The government has also made investments in education and health, resulting in improved national-level enrolment rates for school-aged children and lower under-5 and maternal mortality rates.However, poverty reduction in the country remains a challenge, with the poverty rate increasing from 35% in 2010 to 41% in recent time, 2019. Of particular concern are the regional disparities in the low standard of living between rural and urban settlements across the country. Pointedly, the northern region experiencing significantly lower standards as compared to the south. For a fact, this is evidenced in education and health outcomes which is the focus of this presentation.
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    Escaped or Trapped? The Untold Story of Ghana’s Poverty Reduction
    (African Economic Research Consortium, 2023-07) Gafa, Dede W.; Hodey, Louis S.; Senadza, Bernardin
    Ghana’s economic growth and poverty reduction have been remarkable in the past few decades. However, the pace of poverty reduction has decreased since 2013. In addition, there are large differences in poverty levels across regions and socio-economic groups. People living in rural areas,those in traditional farming, and low-productivity informal sectors are vulnerable to various shocks including climate shocks, job losses, etc. The COVID-19 pandemic has further worsened the situation. Its negative effects on businesses, employment, and income have led to heightened vulnerabilities for many non-poor households and poverty persistence for poor households.
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    Growing Apart and Falling Together: The Growing South African Story
    (African Economic Research Consortium, 2023-07) Ngepah, Nicholas
    Persistently high poverty and inequality compounded by increasing episodes of economic shocks, have been identified as a significant development issue, jeopardizing future poverty reduction efforts in post-apartheid South Africa. Despite relatively robust economic growth, poverty reduction has been slow, prompting a debate about the relationship between economic growth and poverty reduction. While economic growth is often seen as a key driver of poverty reduction, the relationship is complex and multifaceted, requiring further investigations, especially in the current context of rampant economic shocks. Economic growth alone is insufficient to reduce poverty significantly. The poor are vulnerable during economic downturns and require targeted policies. Existing social programs are helpful but insufficient The South African government has undertaken various programs to cushion the burden of poverty on the poor. These are among others, social grants, free healthcare and education services.
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    Hunger Crisis in Kenya: Urgent Need for Targeted and Equitable Policies
    (African Economic Research Consortium, 2023-07) Giovanis, Eleftherios; Ozdamar, Oznur
    The covid-19pandemichas led to a significant loss of jobs and income in Sub-Saharan Africa, causing food insecurity and hunger for many households. The timing of the epidemic added stress to already fragile food security and distribution networks. Food security was already threatened by conflicts, natural disasters, and climate change on a transcontinental scale before the spread of COVID-19. The study reveals that coping strategies, such as reducing non-food consumption, delaying payment obligations, and purchasing credits, are not enough to ensure food security for all. These coping strategies require an increase in wealth and household expenditures to equalize the food security level of households with those who have not adopted any coping strategy. The findings highlight the need for targeted and equitable policies to address the discrepancies across gender and socio-economic groups and achieve food security for all.
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    Jobless and Divided: Measures Towards Redressing Inequality in the Era of Covid-19
    (African Economic Research Consortium, 2023-07) Rodrigue, Nda’chi Deffo; Tchoumdop, Ndonou; Estelle ,Michèle; Benjamin, Fomba Kamga
    The Covid-19 pandemic has led to further increase in income inequality; a situation that was already alarming and deeply concerning. The increase in inequality is the result of several factors such as individuals head of households losing their jobs due to the restrictions put in place by the government. Even those who escaped this job loss experienced a decline in productivity. Moreover, there was a significant drop in monetary transfers to individuals because the issuers of these transfers were also experiencing difficulties.
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    Re-Examining the Growth Poverty-Inequality Nexus in an Unstable Low-Income Economy: Case of Malawi
    (African Economic Research Consortium, 2023-07) Chipeta, Chinyamata
    Malawi suffers from a high incidence of poverty that has not fallen significantly over the last two decades. When the first integrated household survey was conducted in 1997/98, it was found that 54.1 percent of its population was living below the national poverty line. Six years later, the proportion of people living below the national poverty line had declined to 52.4 percent, before declining further to 50.7 percent in 2010. But, subsequently, it increased to 51.5 percent in 2016, then fell again to 50.7 percent in 2019. Thus, apart from the brief period when poverty rates decreased, the rate of poverty has been stagnant, fluctuating marginally. About one-half of the population of Malawi lives on very low incomes. These impoverished people suffer from food insecurity, undernutrition and poor health, have little education, live in environmentally degraded areas, and attempt to earn a meagre living on small and marginal farms or in dilapidated urban slums. In this policy brief, we set the stage for re-examining the problem of poverty in Malawi and how it can be reduced.