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6 - Human Development in Africa

from Part II - The OECD and the Rest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2022

Leandro Prados de la Escosura
Affiliation:
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
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Summary

Chapter 6 assesses long-run augmented human development in Africa. Augmented human development experienced sustained gains since 1880, faster between 1920 and 1960, under colonial rule, and at the turn of the century, but remains at the bottom of the world distribution, although the northern and southern regions forged ahead while the rest stayed behind. AHD grew twice as much as per capita GDP, thriving at times of poor economic performance and, unlike GDP per head that fell behind from a higher relative position, AHD was catching up to the OECD since the late 1920s. Schooling was the main driver of AHD gains and catching up, with life expectancy making a significant contribution in the interwar in the early stage of the epidemiological transition, as the diffusion of health practices prevented infectious disease spread and helped reduce infant and maternal mortality. Civil and political liberties made a contribution both at the time of independence and in the 1990s. AHD long-run performance does not support either the pessimistic view of the colonial era or the depiction of ‘lost decades’ for the post-independence era, but there is still a long way to go from an international perspective

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Chapter
Information
Human Development and the Path to Freedom
1870 to the Present
, pp. 184 - 240
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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