Will poverty in Africa ever end?

Africa is big. Really big, and composed of many different countries, with wildly varying economic, social, and political circumstances. read more

The obstacles to poverty reduction in, say, South Africa are very different to the obstacles in poverty reduction in Equatorial Guinea. Equatorial Guinea is the richest country in Africa in terms of “per capita wealth,” thanks to its significant oil deposits, but all that wealth is in the hands of a select few, thanks to a brutal dictatorship. read more

Poverty is a perception – it is a status which is bestowed on people who have relatively little – even in societies of plenty. That's why we probably can't really ever "end" poverty. To see a world in which so many people have less than you and to want them to have more is, to many of us, human nature. read more

Clearly though, proclaiming the “end of poverty” depends on where you draw the line. Poverty reduction at the $1.25-per- day line has been rapid over the last two decades, at least in relative terms. read more