Water and Electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is the poorest region in the world. Average per capita GDP in 2003, at just US$633, was less than half that of all developing countries and less than one-fortieth of that of OECD countries. There is variation across the region. Equatorial Guinea has the highest GDP per capita following the exploitation of mineral wealth that led to its becoming one of the region’s major oil exporters. Burundi is at the other end of the scale with per capita GDP of just US$83 (see Table 5.1). Despite decades of international support, income levels in the region have barely improved in the past 40 years, although, once again, there is considerable variation across countries. Zambia, for example, has seen per capita GDP fall by around 44 per cent since the mid-1960s, and Niger has suffered a fall of 54 per cent while Malawi has seen an increase of 45 per cent, and Kenya an increase of 59 per cent. Botswana has witnessed the biggest increase with per capita GDP rising by over 1000 per cent since 1965 (World Bank African Development Indicators). Many countries made significant economic gains during the 1960s and 1970s, but these were offset by sharp contractions in the subsequent two decades. Poverty in SSA rose from 41 per cent in 1981 to 46 per cent in 2001, and the number of people living in extreme poverty rose by 140 million. Of the 26 countries for which data are provided, in 24 of these, more than half the population lives on less than US$2 a day (Table 5.1).