A decade ago, one quarter of Africans lived on more than $2 dollars a day. Today, that figure has changed; according to the African Development Bank [ADB], one in three Africans is living on between $2 and $20 dollars a day. As at 2010 estimates, 34% percent of Africans or 313 million people now represent Africa’s new middle class.
Better governance, technological access and advancement, mobile telephony and a more equitable distribution of natural resources have been quoted as the key factors bringing about this change. However, the changes are not uniform across the several regions. Northern Africa heads the rankings with states like Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco on top. In sub Saharan Africa, the countries with the best governance head the table. In Ghana, Kenya, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, around half the population earn more than $2 per day.
What exactly then does it take to be the new African bourgeois? Not much it appears. Apparently it appears that to be classified as middle class African, all you need are the basics for survival. Economists have compared the new middle class Africa to working class Europe in the early 1900’s. This means that they probably can afford a mobile phone and television. Extras like a washing machine are hard to come by and a cheap second hand car is often out of reach. According to the report, “In education, aspirations and social status, most of them are closer to the European working class of a century ago.”
In comparison to a middle class family in the United Kingdom today, the child in an African middle class family lacks a proper basic education. They still attend ramshackle schools in environments that are not conducive for learning and cannot afford all the textbooks they need.
Adequate healthcare is still a long way off with individuals and families unable to afford whatever existing health insurance policies in place. In countries like Nigeria, maternal mortality rates are alarmingly high and malaria continues to kill children every minute.
Vacations and travels, a staple of European middle class is obviously out of reach in African countries. The nearest a lot of African middle class earners come to taking a vacation is watching movies on their television sets or a weekly dose of European football leagues.
With too little spending power, this new bourgeoisie is anything but part of a global consumer society. They have little or no savings and cannot afford credit cards. Western economists are the chief skeptics of the power and potential of the economic viability of investments in Africa. However, as the Chinese and Indians have proven, Africa is a veritable goldmine. The Chinese in the past decade have maintained a foothold in Africa and are expanding. India is following suit especially in the area of affordable health care. Establishing industries and expanding across cities and even remote areas, these Asian incursions have proven that trade not aid is the panacea to Africa’s under development.
Undoubtedly, the era of the internet and mobile telephony has contributed immensely to this growth. Creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and providing business opportunities from entrepreneurs at every scale. This has exposed a hungry and enterprising youth to an exciting new world of possibilities which apparently they have snapped up.
With the youth now aware of the fruits of a democratic government, strong institutions and good leaders, they are beginning to demand more from their leaders. With the jasmine revolution and its effects across North Africa and the recent upheaval in Ivory Coast, African leaders are beginning to pay attention to the needs of the governed.
The new African bourgeois may not be able to afford a family vacation to the Bahamas, but at the moment, he is perfectly content to sit in front of his television set cheering with fans across the world when Barcelona beats Manchester United at Old Trafford.
