iMFdirect – The IMF Blog

By Antoinette M. Sayeh

(Version in Français)

Suddenly it’s the thing everyone is talking about. Income inequality. Not just between countries, but inequality within countries.

In North Africa and the Middle East, jobless youth sparked the Arab Spring. In the United States, the growing gap between rich and poor is the “meta concern” of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Worldwide, frustrations appear to be on the rise.

What about sub-Saharan Africa? Sustained economic growth has certainly produced some tremendous advances. But a large proportion of the population is still living in poverty. So frustrations about the inclusiveness of growth are also shared within the region.

Complex story

Is the story really as negative in sub-Saharan Africa as the relatively slow reduction in the incidence of poverty and some people’s frustration suggest? Or is the underlying situation a little more complex?

In July, I wrote about the importance of inclusive growth and whether economic growth was a necessary or a sufficient condition for poverty reduction. The IMF’s latest Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa takes that thinking a step further. The new analysis looks at how living standards for the poorest households have actually been changing in some countries in the region.

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Filed under: Africa, Economic outlook, Français, growth, Inequality, International Monetary Fund | Tagged: Antoinette Sayeh, Cameroon, consumption, economic growth, education, Ghana, health, household survey data, IMF, iMFdirect, inclusive growth, income inequality, inequality, infrastructure investment, International Monetary Fund, job creation, living standards, Mozambique, Occupy Wall Street, poverty, poverty reduction, Regional Economic Outlook: Sub-Saharan Africa, social safety nets, Tanzania, transfer programs, Uganda, Zambia | 3 Comments »