Privatization in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Essential route yo Poverty Alleviation

Africa faces dire poverty siuation and this is exacerbated by challenges such as low level of human development, low levels of productivity, poor investment climate and poor infrastructure. Attempts are being made by individual governments across the continent to tackle this problem by adopting poverty reduction sategies, and sometimes supported by multilateral finance institutions. Having noted that many public enterprises are inefficient and rely on subsides, most governments have dicided to privatize them in order to improve their performance. In most cases, privatization agencies have been established to spearhead the privatization programmes. These programm'es yield mixed results, depending on the level of prepration for privatization, the type of public enterprise being privatized, and so on. Several studies on privatization in Africa reveal that it brings about numerous benefits, and empowers the private sector. The benefits that accrue to the nation include efficiency gains, stable and reduced prices, reduced government subsidies that can be redirected to other development intititaves, at times, payment ot dividends to government and increase in employment, to mention a few. This paper attempts to convey the message that privatization is in the interest of Sub-Saharan African countries, both in terms of poverty alleviation and enhancement of the integration process of the continent. However, in order to have the desired impact on the poor, it is of paramount importance that pivatization programmes are properly designed, integrated as part and parcel of poverty alleviation strategies, and national development plans.