The Emerging Middle Class in Africa
The emergence of the African middle class as a driver of Africa’s economic growth stands out as an important milestone in Africa’s contemporary economic history. This growth, though uneven, is a source of hope for Africa, but also a signal to the rest of the world on the prospects for economic recovery and renewal, particularly because it has been steady despite the global downturn.
The Emerging Middle Class in Africa
analyses specific aspects of the lives of the middle class in Africa. It looks at how people become and remain in the middle class through a series of thematic chapters. It examines how behaviour changes in the process, in terms of consumption patterns and spending on health and education. A further dimension of this analysis is how class impacts on gender relations and whether women are able to reap the same benefits of social advancement available to men. Africa is a continent of such scale and diversity that experiences across countries vary widely. The book thus captures the common patterns across the continent.
This text is primarily aimed at Africanist researchers, policy makers, development practitioners, and bilateral and multilateral institutions, as well as students of African studies, political science, political economy, development studies, and development economics.
Mauritius, Morocco, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, and Tunisia) recorded substantial growth in subscriber numbers between 2003 and 2008 (see Figure 1.6). FIGURE 1.6 Fixed broadband internet subscribers per 1,000 population in selected African countries, 2003 and 2008 (source: AfDB Data Portal (accessed 2014)) Vehicle ownership is also associated with a middle-class lifestyle and many countries are showing an upward trend for this indicator (see Figure 1.7). Similarly, consumption of
coordinating the process and providing the necessary resources such as investment capital and protection from imports. The ISI strategy also provided an impetus for the further expansion of government bureaucracy. Centrally planned industrialization meant that government ministries involved in the industrial process had to expand to play an enhanced economic role. Among the many ministries that grew as a direct result of the ISI strategy were ministries of planning, which were responsible for
individual spends on these activities; his or her level of access to, and efficiency in, the use of inputs; as well as his or her sector of employment. To have comparable chances to move out of poverty and join the ranks of the middle class, women and men must have equal opportunity to participate in, increase, and sustain income-generating activities. Both women and men must be equipped with the requisite skills and have access to relevant knowledge, factors of production, and inputs. Norms,
Communicable diseases are still overwhelming in their scale. Infectious diseases account for at least 69 percent of deaths on the continent (de-Graft Aikins, Unwin, and Agyemang, 2010). Thus, Africa faces a double burden of infectious and chronic diseases. Communicable disease is still a very important concern for the middle class, particularly in relation to HIV/Aids. While access to improved water and sanitation improves as the middle class increases, there are also detrimental effects
self-employment: insecure 102; and labor sectors 86; see also entrepreneurship service industries 4–5, 88, 204; expansion 3; growth of 97–8 Shane, S.A. 104 Shimeles A. 2 Sierra Leone, profile of middle class 22 Siphambe, H.K. 160, 162 skills: and labor participation 154; lack of 119 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) 102; financial characteristics 118 social cohesion 35 social expectations, post-colonial political economy 37 social heterogeneity 43 social inequality 52–4 social