Growth and Poverty Reduction in West Africa: A Brief Overview

Wodon, Quentin (2007): Growth and Poverty Reduction in West Africa: A Brief Overview. Published in: Growth and Poverty Reduction: Case Studies from West Africa (edited by Quentin Wodon, published in World Bank Working Paper No. 79) (January 2007): pp. 1-5.

Abstract

This paper serves as a brief introduction and overview for a volume that provides a set of six case studies from West Africa in order to contribute to an assessment of the benefits of growth (or the cost of a lack of growth) for poverty reduction in those countries. The first part of the volume describes the experience of two countries (Ghana and Senegal) that achieved high levels of growth in the 1990s, and that also experienced important reductions in poverty, even though growth was not strictly pro-poor. The second part of the volume describes the experience of two other countries (Burkina Faso and Cape Verde) that also achieved high levels of growth in the 1990s, but where due to data and methodological issues, there was an initial perception that growth did not lead to much poverty reduction. The more detailed analysis of poverty presented here suggests however that these two countries did witness a sharp reduction in their population share in poverty, as would have been expected given their growth record. Finally, in the third part of the volume, it is argued that a lack of growth in the 1990s in the last two countries under review (Guinea-Bissau and Nigeria) has been a key reason for their persistently high levels of poverty. Overall, the case studies in this volume make a strong case for the positive impact of growth for the reduction in poverty in West Africa, but they also point to the need to pay close attention to changes in inequality as such changes have limited the gains from growth for the poor in several of the countries considered here.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Growth; Poverty Reduction; West Africa
• Subjects: N - Economic History > N1 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics ; Industrial Structure ; Growth ; Fluctuations > N17 - Africa ; Oceania; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O4 - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity > O40 - General; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I3 - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty > I32 - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

References

Addison, D., and Q. Wodon, 2007, Macroeconomic Volatility, Private Investment, Growth, and Poverty in Nigeria, in Q. Wodon, editor, Growth and Poverty Reduction: Case Studies from West Africa, World Bank Working Paper No. 79, World Bank, Washington, DC.

Angel-Urdinola, D., and Q. Wodon, 2007, Assessing Absolute and Relative Poverty Trends with Limited Data in Cape Verde Using SimSIP Poverty, in Q. Wodon, editor, Growth and Poverty Reduction: Case Studies from West Africa, World Bank Working Paper No. 79, World Bank, Washington, DC.

Azam, J. P., M. Dia, C. Tsimpo, and Q. Wodon, 2007, Has Growth in Senegal After the 1994 Devaluation been Pro-Poor?, in Q. Wodon, editor, Growth and Poverty Reduction: Case Studies from West Africa, World Bank Working Paper No. 79, World Bank, Washington, DC.

Barry, B. S. and Q. Wodon, 2007, Conflict, Growth and Poverty in Guinea-Bissau, , in Q. Wodon, editor, Growth and Poverty Reduction: Case Studies from West Africa, World Bank Working Paper No. 79, World Bank, Washington, DC.

Coulombe, H., and A. McKay, 2007, Growth with Selective Poverty Reduction—Ghana in the 1990s, in Q. Wodon, editor, Growth and Poverty Reduction: Case Studies from West Africa, World Bank Working Paper No. 79, World Bank, Washington, DC.

Tesliuc, E. D., and M. Michel Kone, 2007, Burkina Faso: Quo Vadis Poverty?, in Q. Wodon, editor, Growth and Poverty Reduction: Case Studies from West Africa, World Bank Working Paper No. 79, World Bank, Washington, DC.