Leveling the Playing Field: Addressing Structural Inequalities to Accelerate Poverty Reduction in Africa

Washington DC (Washington - USA): The World Bank, 2024.

English

346 p.

978-1-4648-2161-5

Structural sources of Africa’s inequality are rooted in laws, institutions, and practices that create advantages for a few but disadvantages for many. They include differences in living standards that come from inherited or unalterable characteristics, such as where people are born and their parents’ education, ethnicity, religion, and gender. They also arise from market and institutional distortions that privilege some firms, farms, and workers to access markets, employment, and opportunities while limiting access for the majority and limiting earning opportunities. This book argues that policies to address high levels of structural inequality in Africa are also at the heart of what is needed to accelerate progress in reducing extreme poverty. Leveraging the most recent data available for the region, the book provides recommendations aimed at improving the productive capacity of the poor, the ability of poor individuals to use their capacities for well-paying job opportunities, and the design of fair fiscal policies.

Electronic ed.

ELR 3233

English

MON-130010