At first glance, one of the first thing that jumps to anyone, is that even after more than a half a century or more of independence, the legacy of colonization is still very much present. The striking development in the former British colonies versus the Francophones ones (Belgium & France). One enjoys a strong, real nascent middle class rise with all of it's benefits, while the later, struggles in the 21st century to provide for it's populace basic needs such as electricity, waste management services and proper healthcare.
At the macro level, economic growth in Africa has not been inclusive enough, the World Bank has warned in an unprecedented assessment of the limited progress brought by the overall GDP increase. Growth, which has been encouraging in most parts of Africa and even spectacular in a few cases, is expected to be close to 5% on average this year, and even more in 2014 and 2015.
Francisco Ferreira, acting chief economist for the Africa region, said GDP per capita growth over the past 10 years - 1.8% on average - had been "below the developing countries average".Nearly half of the African population was living below the poverty line in 2010, which was an improvement from the 58% that were registered by the World Bank in 1999, but the pace of reduction is "unacceptably low" and inequality "unacceptably high", he told Emerging Markets.
Progress towards reducing inequality in Africa has been slower than elsewhere. On average in the developing world, one percentage point of GDP growth reduces the incidence of poverty by 2%. In sub-Saharan Africa that number is 0.7%. That's simply too low.
A few nations have made some good progress, that needs to be acknowledge and encourage. However, much still needs to be done. I do hope that the return of the diaspora will bring the kind of progress the continent needs.
