Africa – vast continent, big challenges, great potential

Sub-Saharan Africa is a vast and ethnically diverse region, rich in culture and natural resources, yet with the highest proportion of people living in extreme poverty in the world. About one in two people survive on less than a dollar a day.

There have been real signs of progress in reducing poverty in Africa. The average annual GDP growth across Africa between 1998 and 2006 was 4.3%, which is higher than the world average. In the UK it was approximately 2.8%.

The cancellation of Nigeria’s debt in October 2005 has meant that an additional $1 billion a year is available for the government of Nigeria to spend on poverty reduction. In 2006, the gains resulted in the retraining of 145,000 teachers and the recruitment of 40,000 new teachers.

Since the abolition of school fees in Tanzania in 2001 the number of children enrolled in primary schools has increased from 4.4 million in 2000 to 8 million by 2006 with 97% of children now enrolled; the number of teachers has increased by a quarter and the number of schools by a fifth.

In South Africa ten million more people have access to clean water than in 1994 and in Uganda the proportion of children immunised rose from 41% in 2000 to 89% in 2005. In Rwanda access to healthcare has improved with 60% of the population within 5km of a health centre. Vaccination rates for children under 5 have remained high (85%) and essential drugs are available 95% of the time.

But on current trends, the Millennium Development Goals are unlikely to be reached by 2015: average life expectancy is 47 years in Sub Saharan Africa, over 40 million children in Africa do not get the opportunity to go to school, over a third of the entire population of Sub-Saharan Africa is under-nourished, 250,000 women (1 in 16) die during pregnancy or childbirth, and 1 in 5 children die before the age of five.

In 2006/07, DFID spent an estimated £1.05 billion on bilateral and regional programmes to reduce poverty in Africa, of which 90% was spent in our 16 priority countries. In 2007/08 DFID will spend up to £1.25 billion.

DFID’s 16 priority countries for 2005-2008 are: DRC, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The UK has made significant commitments to support Africa’s development including through the G8 and the EU. DFID works with other UK government departments, African partners and other donors to act on those promises. The UK is also building a partnership with China to see how both countries can work together to reduce poverty in Africa. In addition, DFID works with Pan African and regional institutions.

For more information on what DFID does across Africa please see our Africa Factsheet, or on individual country programmes please click on one of the country links at the top of the page.

Last updated: 15 September 2008