The Global Multidimensional Poverty Index – MPI (2018) confirms ‘sub-Saharan Africa as the poorest region in the world, in both MPI and poverty rate.’
The region’s MPI confirms low years of schooling and attendance; undernourishment and high child mortality; and low living standards. The future adult population of the region is likely to remain characterized by poor health and low technical and professional skills. This will undermine enterprise and regional resilience for an extended period, due to skills shortages and poor health, unless more aggressive poverty alleviation interventions are put in place.
The current African ‘private enterprise’ initiatives to fight the COVID-19 pandemic make room for stronger partnerships between private and public enterprise. Poverty alleviation could potentially be equally prioritized by both enterprises, thereby contributing to resilience of enterprise and region.