africa

5. How Inclusive is the
Present Growth Pattern
in Sub-Saharan Africa?
Erik Thorbecke*
Cornell University
5.1 Introduction
Until recently, the development community despaired about the economic and social
stagnation ruling in most of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In the four decades prior to
the new millennium, the per capita GDP of SSA, as a whole, was essentially the
same as in 1960 (Ndulu and others, 2007). A combination of extractive economic
and political institutions and policies, geographical obstacles, and artificial state
boundaries that joined together different and often warring ethnic groups created
an anti-growth environment. The few growth spells that occurred before the turn of
the 21st century tended to be of an enclave type, benefitting only a small segment
of society and generally unsustainable. As Acemoglu and Robinson (2012: 83)
clearly demonstrated, “Nations fail when they have extractive economic institutions,
supported by extractive political institutions that impede and even block economic
growth.” 1 As a consequence, the African subcontinent suffered from endemic poverty
and high inequality. At the beginning of the new millennium, more than half
the population was in a state of extreme poverty, subsisting on incomes below the
poverty line of US$1.25 a day.
* I would like to dedicate this paper to the memory of Gustav Ranis whose untimely death robbed us of
his presence and guidance at this conference. The theme of this paper owes much to the concept of
dual economies that he developed early in his career.
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