SOAS Research Online

Abstract

In the light of the opportunities and the challenges facing African economies in the 21st century, this edited volume traces an evolution of poverty in the course of economic development in sub-Saharan Africa over the recent decades. By engaging with and seeking to develop on the work of Professor Erik Thorbecke, it examines the evolving dynamics of poverty in multiple dimensions, in the light of Africa’s growth spell since the turn of the 21st century. It further discusses the way forward for addressing the question of how to lay down a foundation for improved governance and institutions towards realization of inclusive development in sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, the volume aims to contribute to our understanding of dynamics of pro-poor growth and pro-growth poverty reduction, and to ongoing policy and academic debates on how to overcome fragility and vulnerability and secure inclusive development through socio-economic transformation in sub-Saharan Africa. The volume is divided into four parts: two overview chapters in Part I set out a common theme running through the volume. Four chapters in Part II examine an evolution of the poverty profile in different dimensions in sub-Saharan Africa since the new millennium. Part III presents three country case studies of tracing poverty dynamics under a country-specific institutional and policy environment. Part IV consists of three chapters, each of which addresses the question of how to advance an inclusive development agenda in sub-Saharan Africa, but from three different perspectives—structural changes, a governance framework, and an institutional foundation.