JOHANNESBURG, July 16 (NNN-KBC) — Southern Africa is the most unequal region in the world and contains the world’s three most unequal countries (South Africa, Namibia and Zambia), a report by three top international organisations has revealed.
The new analysis from Oxfam, Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and Development Finance International (DFI) says all countries in the regional bloc, the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) – except Tanzania and Mauritius – are in the top 50 most unequal countries.
The report says that many Sadc member governments are still showing considerable commitment to fighting inequality – but still nowhere near enough to offset the huge disparities produced by the market, that favours the rich, and exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The combination of budget cuts, rising debt and a slow recovery due to global vaccine inequity risks raising the Sadc inequality crisis to new heights,” according to Mathew Martin, Development Finance International Director.
He said that Sadc members had “a once-in-a-generation opportunity to do what their citizens wanted – to increase taxes on the wealthy and large corporations, to boost public spending especially on healthcare, education and social protection, and to boost workers’ rights in order to tackle joblessness and precarious work.”
He added that if the countries got debt relief and aid, then it was possible to drastically reduce inequality and eliminate extreme poverty by 2030.
The Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index (CRI) report shows that the 15 Sadc member states lost about $80bn in 2020 due to lower-than-expected growth which is equivalent to around $220 for every Sadc citizen. — NNN-KBC
