Conclusion: Africa that Works

Abstract

A June 6, 2011, report in the African Economic Outlook observed that “Africa’s economies have weathered the global crisis relatively [well] and have rebounded in 2010.”¹ This came as welcoming news to Afro-optimists, who predicted for quite some time now that the continent is in rebound mode. To be fair to the optimists, there is more good news coming out of Africa today than ever before—the story about Africa is not all gloomy. To begin with, the continent has begun making progress toward meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), although much still needs to be accomplished. Thus, while Africa still has higher poverty rates compared to other regions of the world, the rates dropped significantly between 1990 and 2008, interrupted only by the global economic crisis and the resulting food shortages that hit the continent. Therefore, the period between 1990 and 2008 witnessed relative social and economic gains as recorded by the 2009 UN MDG report:

In 1990, the baseline year for the MDGs, 57% of the population of Africa was living in extreme poverty, earning less than $ 1.25 a day in purchasing power parities and 2005 prices. By 2005, the poverty rate had dropped to 51 percent … [P]rojections suggest that the extreme poverty rate in Africa has continued to drop to about 46 percent in 2008.²