Addis Ababa, October 24, 2018: After a prolonged period of economic stagnation and decline, African economies have experienced rapid growth over the last two decades. Poverty and malnutrition have fallen steadily during that period. Because of broad deterioration of livelihoods, it will take a longer period of continued growth to pull large segments of the population out of vulnerability. In fact, despite falling poverty rates, the absolute number of poor and vulnerable is still rising. As more countries transition to more democratic and pluralistic systems and the poor and vulnerable segment of the population, particularly in urban areas gains in political weight, countries across Africa are likely to experience growing demand for social protection. There will be increased pressure on governments to respond to main social cohesion and stability.
