Poverty in Africa has recently reached a new high. Sadly, the poverty has increased by the millions over the past 30 years. At first in the 1980s, it was estimated that about 215 million people were living in poverty. In 1998, it was 300 million; and 23 Years later in 2011, the number is now 350 million. Those increases are astounding. In this article, you will learn more facts about poverty in Africa and what the causes are. This is a war that the people of Africa are fighting every day.

How the Lack of Business has Affected Africa

The truth is, the lack of business is the main reason that poverty levels in this country have reached so high. Nowadays, it is very hard to start your own company or run your own business without mass amounts of money. Many people in Africa can’t get loans to buy a local company or start their own business and most don’t have that kind of money saved up. Because of this, local businesses are very scarce and the amount of employers looking to hire people to work for them is very, very little. How are people going to provide shelter and food for their families if they can’t find work? It’s a huge problem and currently it seems like there’s no quick solution. The few that are fortunate enough to own their own business usually don’t make much money because the civilians don’t have any money to spend. This causes the employers to run the business themselves and not hire any employees. These Africa facts show that it is a continuous and endless cycle that is all stemmed from lack of money and business.

Other Reasons for Poverty Growth

Other causes of poverty in the country come from the lack of education. It is a well known fact that those who don’t complete some form of education will live most of their life in poverty. Many kids don’t even get the chance to attend schooling. This is mostly due to abandonment from sick or dead parents causing them to take on the burden of caring for their siblings on their own. Two-thirds of the kids that do start “primary school” never finish or graduate. This means that at least one-third of these children will have a very hard time supporting themselves and their family due to little or no education.

Other reasons poverty has been on the rise includes: floods, droughts, and civil conflicts. Currently in some areas, there are the worst droughts ever to be seen. This is not only causing starvation, but causing a huge shortage on farming as well. Other areas are being flooded so bad that food doesn’t even have the chance to grow while businesses are being washed away. A lot of farming land over the years have become so dry and infertile that they have now turned into desert, meaning people are no longer able to plant and grow agriculture.

Interesting Statistics on African Poverty

Here are some quick and compelling statistics on the Poverty in Africa:

• Nearly half of all people survive on $1 or less a day.
• About 34% of the population in Africa suffer from malnutrition.
• 1 in every 6 children dies before turning 5 due to malnutrition and starvation.
• One out of every 5 people have electricity.
• Less than half of the African population have access to doctors, hospitals, and emergency rooms.
• Every minute in southern parts of Africa, a child loses its life to measles due to lack of vaccinations.
• 2,500 Children die every day due to not having access to clean water.