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Trends since 1960: Africa’s human development

Written by: African Development Bank

Article Overview: The welfare of Africans rose in both the 1960s and 1970s, whether assessed solely by GDP per capita or by the wider HDI.

Trends since 1960: Africa’s human development

The welfare of Africans rose in both the 1960s and 1970s, whether assessed solely by GDP per
capita or by the wider HDI. Taking a population weighted average for the 33 African countries
for whom data is available, GDP per capita in 1987 US dollars rose by around two fifths between
1960 and 1980. For the five South Asian countries for whom data is available, the rise in incomes was
smaller, amounting to less than one third of GDP per capita in 1960. After 1980, the situation radically
changed. Per capita incomes fell in Africa whilst in South Asia they had risen by a half by 1994. Since
1960, Africa has experienced more improvement in the composite human development index than in
GDP per capita. This is particularly marked since 1980, when the human development index continued
to rise despite economic decline. However, the rise in the HDI during this period was much slower than
in previous decades.

Although health in Africa is poor compared to elsewhere, it has improved greatly since 1960
when life expectancy on the continent was only 41 years. Until 1980, life expectancy in Africa was only
slightly less than in South Asia. Thereafter, however, trends in the two regions diverged sharply. Life
expectancy in Africa rose only 3.5 years from 1980-1994. By contrast, the rate of increase in longevity
accelerated in South Asia, rising from 51.5 to 61.3. This period also marked the greatest divergence in
economic performance between the two regions.
Africa’s high literacy rates compared to its income reflects the substantial expansion of
schooling in Africa since 1960. For the 27 African countries for whom we could obtain data,
gross primary school enrolment ratios rose from 38% in 1960 to 83% in 1980. As a consequence, the
adult literacy rate doubled between 1970 and 1994. These improvements in literacy are greater than
those in South Asia: during the same period, adult literacy in that region increased by only slightly more
than one half. Whilst adult literacy rates were lower in Africa than in South Asia in 1970, the reverse is
now true. However, in the area of enrolments Africa’s performance has been inferior to that of South
Asia. Combined educational enrolments in 1994 are only 3 points above their 1980 levels; in South
Asia, they had risen by 16 points. For the countries for whom we have data, gross primary school enrolments have on average fallen since 1980. Secondary school enrolment rates - and the proportion
of girls in primary school - have continued to rise but at a slower rate than before. Educational expenditures
per student have fallen in real terms (Sahn, 1992).
The result of these flow expenditures on the stock of human capital can be assessed using a
consistent set of data from 1965 to 1990. This we do in Table 2 and figure 1 which show the
percentage of the population over 15 with no education, and with some primary and with completed
primary education. The levels of completion at secondary and higher levels are also shown. The
figures for primary completers include those who completed education beyond primary. In 1965
both Africa and South Asia had 70 per cent of their population over 15 with no education. By
1990 this percentage had fallen further in Africa than in South Asia, to 46 per cent as compared
with 55 per cent. While Africa has out-performed South Asia in giving its population some
education, in terms of both primary and secondary completion rates its performance is inferior. In
1990 25 per cent of Africa’s population had completed primary school, while in South Asia it was
32 per cent. Africa has been relatively good in getting children into primary school, but bad at
inducing them to complete. This problem of drop-outs is a major problem for many African
countries: they spend large amounts of money teaching children who do not stay in school long
enough to learn much or to acquire any qualifications. Drop-outs may be partly due to the low
quality of schooling offered. Experimental evidence from Brazil suggests that investments in
higher quality education (such as extra provision of textbooks) may be self-funding if they lower
drop-out and repetition rates (Harbison and Hanushek, 1992). Africa also has low rates of secondary
school competion at 4 per cent, they are less than half that of South Asia, one-third that of South-
East Asia and less than 10 per cent of that of East Asia. The decline in enrolments rates and the
decline in the growth rate of educational coverage that can be observed in Africa may well reflect
the low growth rates of income the 1980s. In both 1965 and 1990 East Asia’s education level was
markedly higher than that for the other developing regions.

Human Capital and Economic Development
Simon Appleton and Francis Teal

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Article Tags: adult literacy rate, african countries, africans, divergence, economic decline, economic performance, gdp, gdp per capita, hdi, human development index, incomes, life expectancy, literacy rates, longevity, ratios, school enrolment, south asia, south asian countries, substantial expansion, weighted average



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