Other Poverty Study
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Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa, home to more than 1 billion people, half of whom will be under 25 years old by 2050, is a diverse ...
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Publication
Inequality in Southern Africa: An Assessment of the Southern African Customs Union
(Washington, DC, 2022)The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) is the most unequal region in the world. While there has been some progress in recent years, inequality has remained almost stagnant in the most unequal countries. Using an innovative framework, this report provides a systematic and comprehensive analysis of inequality in the region. The main conclusions are as follows: first, inherited circumstances over which an individual has little or no control (i.e., inequality of opportunity) drive overall inequality, and their contribution has increased in recent years. This is an important concern particularly because this type of inequality is not the result of people’s efforts. Second, lack of access to jobs and means of production (education, skills, land, among others) by disadvantaged populations slows progress towards a more equitable income distribution. In a context where jobs are scarce, having post-secondary or tertiary education is key to both accessing jobs, and obtaining better wages once employed. Third, fiscal policy helps reduce inequality through the use of targeted transfers, social spending, and progressive taxation, but results are below expectation given the level of spending. Fourth, vulnerability to climate risks and economic shocks makes any gains towards a more equal society fragile. Looking ahead, accelerating inequality reduction will require concerted action in three policy areas: (a) expanding coverage and quality of education, health, and basic services across subregions and disadvantaged populations to reduce inequality of opportunity; (b) strengthening access to and availability of private sector jobs. It is important to accompany structural reforms with measures that facilitate entrepreneurship and skills acquisition of disadvantaged populations, and to improve land distribution and productivity in rural areas; and (c) investing in adaptive social protection systems to increase resilience to climate risks and economic vulnerability, while enhancing targeting of safety net programs for more efficient use of fiscal resources. -
Publication
COVID-19 in Nigeria: Frontline Data and Pathways for Policy
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-11)The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic and its economic and social effects on households have created an urgent need for timely data to help monitor and mitigate the social and economic impacts of the crisis and protect the welfare of Nigerian society. To monitor how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the economy and people of Nigeria and to inform policy interventions and responses, the National Bureau of Statistics with technical support from the World Bank implemented the Nigeria COVID-19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey (NLPS) from April 2020 to April 2021. This report draws on NLPS and other relevant data to analyze COVID-19 impacts in Nigeria’s human capital, livelihoods and welfare. It also looks ahead to the broad challenges of building back better in Nigeria and summarizes priorities for policymaking and implementation. -
Publication
LSMS+ Program in Sub-Saharan Africa: Findings from Individual-Level Data Collection on Labor and Asset Ownership
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-05-05)Established in 2016, the World Bank living standards measurement study - plus (LSMS+) program works to enhance the availability and quality of intra-household, self-reported, individual-disaggregated survey data collected in low- and middle-income countries on key dimensions of men’s and women’s economic opportunities and welfare. This report presents findings on gender differences in labor market outcomes and ownership of physical and financial assets in Sub-Saharan Africa, based on the national surveys that have been implemented by the respective national statistical offices (NSOs) in Ethiopia, Malawi, and Tanzania over the period 2016-2020, with support from the LSMS+ program. -
Publication
COVID-19 Impact Monitoring: Nigeria, Round 10
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-02)The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic and its economic and social effects on households have created an urgent need for timely data to help monitor and mitigate the social and economic impacts of the crisis and protect the welfare of Nigerian society. To monitor how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the economy and people of Nigeria and to inform policy interventions and responses, the National Bureau of Statistics with technical support from the World Bank implemented the Nigeria COVID-19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey (COVID-19 NLPS). This brief presents findings from the seventh and ninth rounds of this survey which was conducted between February 6 and 22, 2021 respectively. -
Publication
COVID-19 Impact Monitoring: Uganda, Round 4-5
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-02)In June 2020, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, with the support from the World Bank, has launched the High-Frequency Phone Survey on COVID-19 (coronavirus) to track the impacts of the pandemic on a monthly basis for a period of 12 months. The survey aimed to recontact the entire sample of households that had been interviewed during the Uganda National Panel Survey 2019/20 round and that had phone numbers for at least one household member or a reference individual. This report presents the findings from the fourth and fifth rounds of the survey that were conducted respectively between October 27th and November 17th, 2020 and February 2nd and February 21st, 2021. -
Publication
COVID-19 Impact Monitoring: Uganda, Round 6
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021)In June 2020, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, with the support from the World Bank, has launched the High-Frequency Phone Survey on COVID-19 to track the impacts of the pandemic on a monthly basis for a period of 12 months. The survey aimed to recontact the entire sample of households that had been interviewed during the Uganda National Panel Survey 2019/20 round and that had phone numbers for at least one household member or a reference individual. This report presents the findings from the sixth round of the survey that was conducted between March 22nd and April 9th , 2021. -
Publication
COVID-19 Impact Monitoring: Uganda Round 3
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-12)This brief presents findings from the third round of the Uganda High-Frequency Phone Survey on COVID-19 (UHFPS), which was conducted in September-October 2020. In June 2020, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), with the support from the World Bank, officially launched the HFPS to track the impacts of the pandemic on a monthly basis for a period of 12 months. The survey aimed to recontact the entire sample of households that had been interviewed during the Uganda National Panel Survey (UNPS) 2019/20 round and that had phone numbers for at least one household member or a reference individual. The first round (baseline) of the survey was conducted from June 3rd to June 20th, the second round was conducted between July 31 and August 21 and the third round was conducted from September 14th to October 7th, 2020. Of the 2,421 households targeted 2,227 households were interviewed in round 1, and 2,199 among them were interviewed in round 2, and finally 2,147 households were interviewed in round 3 representing a 99 percent response rate between rounds 2 and 3. -
Publication
COVID-19 Impact Monitoring: Uganda, Round 2
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-11-01)In June 2020, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, with the support from the World Bank, has launched the High-Frequency Phone Survey on COVID-19 (coronavirus) to track the impacts of the pandemic on a monthly basis for a period of 12 months. The survey aimed to recontact the entire sample of households that had been interviewed during the Uganda National Panel Survey 2019/20 round and that had phone numbers for at least one household member or a reference individual. This report presents the findings from the second round of the survey that was conducted between July 31 and August 21, 2020. -
Publication
Tackling the Demographic Challenge in Uganda
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-10-20)At the moment, a child born in Uganda will be only 38 percent as productive when she grows up as she can be if she enjoyed complete education and full health, according to the human capital index (HCI) one of the lowest levels in the world. It will be necessary to ensure that the growing population bulge will be engaged in productive economic activities that are adding value to economy. This report examines what it will take for Uganda to tackle the demographic challenge in the next four decades. The report also explores the effort required to ensure that future generations of Ugandans enjoy higher levels of access to basic services, a necessary condition to fully benefit from a demographic transition. The main objective of the report is to inform policymakers and relevant stakeholders in Uganda as they formulate their plans for the medium term. The report is organized as follows: chapter one gives introduction. Chapter two characterizes Uganda’s progress in terms of its demographic transition, describes its most recent demographic trends, and shows some correlates of the country’s fertility levels. The population projections under the medium and low-fertility variants for the period 2020-2060 are presented in chapter three, while chapter four explores the implications in terms of service delivery of these projections under the business as usual and enhanced equilibrium scenarios. Based on these same projections, chapter five presents the expected trends of select labor market and poverty indicators. -
Publication
Measuring Inequality of Opportunities in The Gambia
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-02)Located in West Africa, and The Gambia is the smallest country in mainland Africa. It stretches 400 kilometers along the Gambia River. Its sole neighbor is Senegal, with the remainder of the country bordering the Atlantic Ocean. The Gambia’s total land area is 10,689 square kilometers, with a population density of 208 persons per square kilometer of land area, ranking it the eighth highest in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The average population density in SSA is 50 persons per square kilometer of land area. The country’s estimated population was 2.1 million in 2017, with 60.6 percent residing in urban areas; however, the population of the largest city accounts for 33.9 percent of the urban population. Annual population growth remains high at 3.0 percent in 2017, with a faster growth in urban areas compared to rural areas, 4.1 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively. The Gambia has experienced decades of volatile growth. Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita started to increase during the first decade of the twenty-first century, before beginning a downward trend. The average real GDP per capita growth between 2000 and 2009 was about 0.6 percent, with a drop in 2002 to a low, 6.2 percent. The GDP per capita growth increased from US$515.30 in 1990 to about US$562.50 in 2010, but it has declined since then. The economy is driven by agriculture and tourism sectors and has experienced some shocks in recent times. The agricultural sector was affected by inadequate rainfall and tourism was shaken by the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea. The role of remittances is significant and has grown by approximately 150 percent since 2011; remittances accounted for 15.3 percent of GDP in 2017, the second-largest share in GDP in Africa and the seventh largest worldwide.