World to enter 2019 with lowest poverty level, says ECA

THE Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) believes there is reason to celebrate as the count down to 2019 begins: the world will enter the new year with the lowest level of extreme poverty at eight per cent.

According to the ECA, “latest estimates by World Data Lab show that, for the first time in history, the world will enter the new year with the lowest level of extreme poverty, at 8%.”

But, the United Nations (UN) organ also painted a gloomy picture for Africa, stating that “single digit numbers hide underlying differences, especially for African countries. Six hundred million people globally will start 2019 living in extreme poverty and only 20 million will come out of this situation by the end of the year. Africa still has much of its population living in poverty or vulnerable.”

The ECA added that its “recently unveiled Africa Poverty Clock estimate that, in 2019, 70% of the world’s poor will live in Africa, up from 50% in 2015. By 2023, the share of Africa’s poor will increase to over 80% of global share. In other words, Africa will be adding more poor people to the world.”

The African Poverty Clock, the ECA, said “provides real-time poverty estimates for every country on the continent, with forecasts until 2030”.

“Current projections indicate that almost all of Africa is off track for ending extreme poverty by 2030. Thirteen countries are projected to see an increase in absolute numbers. Seven out of the top 10 countries in the world with the most poor people are in Africa. This is expected to rise to nine out of 10 by 2030. Four main factors drive Africa’s diverging progress with the rest of the world,” the UN organ said.