Paris - Africa's middle class has tripled over the last 30
years, with fully one in three now considered above the poverty line but not
among the wealthy, according to the African Development Bank (AfDB).
In 2010, 34.3% of the African population, or 313 million
people, were classified as middle class, compared with 26.2% or 111 million
people in 1980, the AfDB said in a report this week.
"Solid economic growth in Africa over the past two
decades has contributed to reducing poverty in Africa and increasing the size
of the middle class," the April 2011 report said, underlining that the
emergent class helped increase consumption and develop the private sector.
The class is defined as those who spend between $2 and $20
(€15) a day, a range the bank said is appropriate given the cost of living in
the world's poorest continent.
But those on the low end, living on between $2 and $4 a day,
are vulnerable and could fall back into poverty at the slightest crisis, the
AfDB warned.
The more stable middle class - spending between $4 and $20 a
day - counts some 120 million people and "is more or less the size of the
middle class in India or China".
Nevertheless, widespread inequalities persist with about 100
000 Africans holding some 60% of the continent's gross domestic product in
2008, according to the report.
Some 61% of the continent's population lives below the
poverty line of $2 a day.
The middle class is "crucial for the economic and
political development of Africa", the AfDB said, noting that it provides a
market for private businesses, as its counterparts in the United States and
Europe have done.
Internet users soaring
Overall consumption levels on the continent are currently
around a third of those in Europe, and have held up during the recession.
Sales of refrigerators, television sets, cellphones and cars
have increased markedly in almost all African countries over the past few
years, the AfDB said.
"Possession of cars and motorcycles in Ghana, for example,
has increased by 81% since 2006," the report said.
Africans also have better access to electricity and high
speed internet, have fewer children and spend more money on educating their
offspring than poorer people do.
"The number of internet users, which can be used as a
proxy for middle class lifestyles, has increased from about 4.5 million people
in 2000 to 80.6 million people in 2008," the report said.
On the political level, the middle class is better informed
and more concerned about human rights and the quality of public services, and
likely to demand more accountability from their governments.
Economic growth, reduced inequalities, the development of
the private sector, the creation of stable salaried jobs and higher education
have all helped the emergence of the middle class.
Generally better educated, members of the middle class are
often salaried workers or own small businesses, and typically live in the towns
or in coastal areas in brick housing with modern appliances.
This rising middle class can be a key factor in helping
African countries base growth more on domestic demand and less on exports,
according to the report.