Reinventing Inequality and Segregation in Africa: The Latest Chapter

The deepening inequality in the world has been noted on the margins of the recently concluded G20 meeting in South Africa. But precarious existence has been the story of Africans for a long time. 

Colonialism ended over sixty years ago for most Africans, but it left behind three deep anchors which the African elite has yet to significantly dislodge^[1]. First, colonialism deprived people of their communal identity as imperial rule turned them into subjects and transformed cultural identity to tribal political identity^[2]. Second, colonialism savagely exploited the labor and resources of Africans and created systems that reproduced long term destitution of individuals, communities, and countries^[3]. Third, the combination of these two factors spawned a contradictory African class structure that significantly reproduces a dysfunctional economic and political order in the post-colony^[4]. 

Decades after independence, most Africans remain indigent under the dominance of a small elite^[5] that increasingly mimics the old order. Unless there is an urgent and radical shift of national strategies and continental priorities, most Africans will subsist on the margins and the chances of Africa rising would be an illusion. 

Deep inequality and insecurity

The African nationalist project which championed liberation has delivered some progress in the last seventy years, such as widespread literacy and education, greater access to health facilities, more business opportunities, etc.; but inertia has settled in as elite’s life-styles are becoming increasingly disconnected from the livelihoods of the vast majority of ordinary citizens. The economies in the continent are barely able to feed and clothe the people and the unemployment rate of the youth is staggering^[6]. 

A reading of the published literature on African inequality is sobering. It shows an inordinate degree of disparity in African countries from all regions^[7]. A yardstick to gauge this is the share of national income/wealth of the poorest 50 percent and the richest 1percent. Accordingly, four categories of countries emerged. 

The first group of countries are marked by deep inequality since the wealthiest one percent of the population controls or owns more than 20 percent of each country’s wealth and income. Gabon is the champion of this cohort as its one percent controls nearly 50% of the national income. Others in this group are South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Ivory Coast, Egypt and Algeria, etc. Second, the magnitude of inequality does not end with the one percent. The wealthiest 10 percent of the population in these countries control over 40 percent of the national income. Third, it is sobering to learn that the poorest 50 percent in our continent subsist on less than 5% of the national income.  Again, Gabon leads this cohort that includes but are not limited to, Botswana, Angola, Tanzania, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Somalia, Algeria, South Africa, etc. Finally, the so-called lower middle class, which accounts for 30 percent of the population, barely receive incomes that can shelter them from the slightest mishaps of normal life.   

Such massive income/wealth inequalities have been growing^[8] in the last four decades and it is now on steroids given the neo-liberal agenda most countries have adopted. Neo-liberalism absolves the state from minding its civic responsibilities and consequently the indigent population is on its own.  

These circumstances have spawned an intense sense of insecurity n the continent. Two forms of insecurities are prevalent: violent criminality induced by deep inequality^[9] and petty delinquency instigated by subsistence precarity. 

The first type of insecurity is caused by the coexistence of wealth and abject poverty in close proximity. Historically, South Africa best exemplified this condition, but other countries have speedily joined the bandwagon. Long ago, criminologists declared the link between crime and deep inequality^[10] and it is this condition that creates fear and anxiety among the upper crust. The indifference of the elite towards the struggles of the majority is the fundamental cause of this type of insecurity. 

Second, the desperate struggle over scarce resources among the poor and the dearth of a hopeful future has created serious and petty criminality in marginalized communities all over the continent. 

As a result of this deep inequality, the wealthy and the rest of the elite have been turning their working and living spaces to fortresses. Again, South Africa has been a pioneer in this field, but the rest of Africa has caught up as neo-liberalism shreds what is left of the ethos of liberation and national communion. 

The new urban enclosure movement   

To paraphrase the illustrious American political economist, Susan George, the African elite is haunted by the fear of sinking to the slums and becoming part of the underclass. Consequently, one of the major developments in a number of urban areas in the continent is the privately secured towns, enclaves, and neighborhoods where ordinary Africans are not welcome, except as security guards and servants. South Africa has been a pioneer in this scheme, but other countries have embarked on their version with vengeance. Among the many such developments are the enclosed new towns and neighborhoods such as: Konza Techno City (Nairobi); Hope City (Accra); Kigamboni city (Dar es Salaam); La Cite du Fleuve (Kinshasa), and Eko Atlantic  (Lagos), etc.^[11]. All of these developments and many in the pipeline are exclusive estates for the African rich and their comrades from elsewhere. 

A more ominous example of this enclosure movement has been unfolding in Addis Ababa^[12], Ethiopia, and some of the provincial capitals of that country. The Ethiopian urban redevelopment plan mimics America’s urban renewal of the 1960s where poor and black neighborhoods were decimated. 

Most of the people in Addis Ababa were/are poor but their neighborhoods were among the safest places to live. Traditionally, most of the city land belonged to the government and the regime decided to evict the poor from the city center to the periphery where they are invisible. This meant the loss of neighborhoods and communities that had lived there for generations. 

The vacated land is sold to the highest bidders^[13] who are required to build modern towers.  The local elite and their diasporic associates have bought the land and have been building gleaming edifices while the displaced languish on the city’s periphery with little services. 

The alternative: rebuilding trust 

Early this year, President Ramaphosa visited the Ethiopian Capital^[14] and saw the city’s glistening façade firsthand. Impressed by the city’s transformation, he spoke glowingly about the change and urged South Africans to learn from Ethiopians in order to rebuild areas like central Johannesburg. The president’s remarks were tragically telling. He did not need to go to Addis to see how the African elite lives since Sandton and other secluded enclaves are in every major South African city.