Inequality in access to basic services is a major problem in sub-Saharan Africa, but progress is being made

Economic activity and development are unevenly distributed between world regions and within any country. In other words, where a person lives can determine their economic and social well-being.

Take for example gross domestic product (GDP) per capita: the total value of a country’s economic output per person. In 2020, the per capita GDP of North America and Europe was more than ten times that of sub-Saharan Africa.

More than a third (38%) of people in sub-Saharan Africa lived in extreme poverty in 2019. The estimate for the rest of the world was less than 10%.

But there is limited research looking at the levels and trends of spatial disparities in sub-Saharan Africa. This is due to the lack of comparable income and consumption data across countries.

In a recent analysis, we used comparable data from Demographic and Health Surveys to assess spatial inequality between regions within a country, such as disparities between South Africa’s nine provinces. We also study inequality between individuals in more than 24 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

We examine multiple dimensions of inequality. Our analysis considered both assets and access to basic services. This is a useful way of measuring the extent and patterns of inequalities in sub-Saharan Africa.

The results show that spatial inequality is still significant in several countries of the region. Most have high levels of overall spatial and national inequalities. There are large variations between countries.

High and persistent spatial disparity within a country has a number of negative consequences. It means that poverty does not respond to economic growth. It also has implications for political and social stability.

Public policies that promote investment in infrastructure and basic services, as well as human capital and skills development, are essential to reduce spatial inequality.

The investigation

First, we use data from 24 sub-Saharan African countries with a total of more than 1.6 million observations. Indicators of living standards, for example, ownership of durable assets such as land and livestock, and housing conditions, formed the basis for comparing households.

Second, we use data on basic services, such as clean water and electricity, as a narrower measure of living standards. We also use this data to examine trends in inequality over time. We use data from 27 countries, comprising about five million observations, from 1995 to 2018.

In each country, we use the first administrative units (regions or provinces) as our spatial units.

Our research differed from recent studies that have used night-light data from satellites to analyze spatial inequality.

Night lights data is useful for predicting economic activity in cities. But it tends to underestimate spatial inequality in areas where primary activities such as agriculture are the main economic activity. This includes many countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

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Our analysis reveals high levels of spatial asset inequalities within the country and national (interpersonal) in general. The countries varied a lot.

Countries with high regional inequality include Mozambique, Ethiopia, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In 18 countries, regional inequalities accounted for at least one fifth of overall national inequality.

These findings show that, in most sub-Saharan African countries, reducing spatial inequality can do much to reduce overall national inequality.

We show that spatial and national inequalities in access to basic services have decreased significantly over time in most of sub-Saharan Africa. But the level of inequality and the change over time varies from country to country.

Spatial inequalities in access to basic services remain relatively high in Sierra Leone, Mozambique and Niger. They are comparatively low in Gabon, Malawi, Comoros and South Africa.

Reduce spatial inequalities

Spatial inequality is a key component of national inequality in most countries in the region. Therefore, reducing spatial inequalities can reduce economic and social inequalities.

There is some consensus that three factors contribute to spatial inequalities in developing countries. These are:

• Initial differences in geography, such as environmental factors, natural resources, and access to trade routes.

• The concentration of skills, economic productivity and services in a few places.

• Political and fiscal policies

But there is disagreement about which policies work best to reduce spatial inequalities. It is important to understand the context of a country to identify solutions. High levels of initial economic inequalities, among other factors, are an obstacle to reducing poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. And regional disparities within a country are often associated with social divisions such as religion and ethnicity. This leads to conflicts.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.