HE number of Africans trapped in poverty has surged by around 100-million over the past quarter century, the World Bank said on Friday, despite years of economic growth and multi-million dollar aid programmes.

The report’s figures, described as “staggering” by the bank’s Africa head Makhtar Diop, showed widespread malnutrition, and rising violence against civilians, particularly in central regions and the Horn of Africa.

“It is projected that the world’s extreme poor will be increasingly concentrated in Africa,” Mr Diop added in a foreword.

A surge in population meant the proportion of Africans in poverty had actually fallen since 1990, but the actual numbers were up.

In a major study of households taking stock of African economies and societies after two decades of relatively strong growth, the Bank said 388-million — 43% of the sub-Saharan region’s 900-million people — lived on less than $1.90 a day.

Read full article here