The Shocking Truth: Poverty in Africa doubled: 1981-2001

[You see... We White people were right all along! Kindly note, that by 1981, only 2 countries were not "freed" from the "ravages of Colonialism" - namely: Namibia and South Africa. All the rest were enjoying the wonders of Black Govt. Yet, poverty DOUBLED during peace. And guess what... now that Namibia and South Africa are also "free" - you will see the collapse go even faster.

I must tell you all something which few people outside South Africa know. Even during Apartheid, at the height of Apartheid, there were many Black countries who traded SECRETLY with the White Govt here. The Govt here had a special, secret airline which flew all over Africa and did deals with Black African countries. A friend of mine's husband was one of the pilots. All this was hush hush because Blacks did not want to be seen in broad daylight TRADING and dealing with the "hated White Afrikaners" who ran South Africa!! So officially, none of this ever happened.

But in reality, South Africa was a force for good in Africa. It is my firm belief, that as the ANC destroys South Africa's economy, that you will see this further rippling through to the rest of Africa.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, back to the Stone Age we go... Jan]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The number of poor people in Africa almost doubled between 1981 and 2001 and the continent is home to virtually all of the planet's "ultra-poor" who live on less than half a dollar a day, a new study has found.

Published by the University of Cape Town's Development Policy Research Unit, the paper -- "Poverty, Inequality and Labour Markets in Africa: A Descriptive Overview" -- paints a grim picture of a continent falling behind its peers.

Sub-Saharan Africa accounts "for almost all of the world's ultra-poor: namely those individuals living on less than half of the standard $1 a day poverty line," says the paper. "The developing world's problem is about the moderately poor -- for sub-Saharan Africa it is about the ultra-poor."

It says about 46 percent of the continent's inhabitants survive on less than $1 a day and 21 percent eke out an existence on less than $0.50 -- the ultra-poor. About 6 percent live on less than $0.25.

And the ranks of Africa's poor have been swelling.

"In absolute terms, while there were approximately 164 million poor individuals in sub-Saharan Africa in 1981, this figure had increased to 316 million in 2001," it said.

This gloomy state of affairs differs sharply from other developing regions.

The paper says that South Asia in the two decades from 1981 managed to reduce its levels of poverty by an annualised rate of between two and three percent.

East Asia also reduced its poverty levels significantly, even with China excluded.

"... over a 20-year period, largely through the 1990s, sub-Saharan Africa has been unable to significantly alter the proportion of individuals in the region who are earning below $1.03 per day -- which lies in stark contrast to many other regions of the developing world," says the paper.

Worryingly, most Africans seem to remain poor even when their economies grow.

"... it is evident that for the same given level of growth, sub-Saharan Africa has been less able to alleviate poverty than East Asia and the Pacific region," it says.

"Sub-Saharan Africa, apart from inadequate growth rates is also not effectively translating this growth into poverty alleviation," it says.

This assertion chimes with other recent findings.

Equatorial Guinea's economy surged 34 percent last year as energy prices soared, but the windfall had little impact on poverty in the tiny west African country, the International Monetary Fund said in an annual review earlier this month.

Analysts have highlighted a range of factors to explain the persistence and growth of extreme poverty in Africa, including poor governance, heavy dependence on commodities, and an exceptionally high and crippling disease burden.

Source: Tehran Times

URL: http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da...