Growth and Poverty in Africa — Growth and Poverty in Africa: An Overview/Part 1

In light of the importance of pro-poor growth strategies in reducing the especially high poverty rates in Africa, the present article provides an overview for three pertinent papers. First, it is proposed that an important pro-poor growth strategy would entail a greater focus on the rural sector, paying particular attention to an appropriate institutional setup for attenuating urban-biased policies. Secondly, while recent economic reforms in African countries have not been anti-poor, there is the need to address microeconomic constraints in order to enhance the effectiveness of the macroeconomic reforms undertaken in many African countries. Thirdly, HIV/AIDS has had, and will continue to have, major deleterious impacts on the accumulation of human capital in Africa. This outcome is likely to emanate from substantial reductions in both the demand and supply of human capital, unless there are swift public policy interventions. Meanwhile, in order to guide the optimal reallocation of resources, there is an ardent requirement for detailed data as a basis for more reliable predictions of the adverse effects of the pandemic.