Poverty, Inequality and Growth

Abstract Cilliers first explores the progress that has been made globally in poverty reduction in a historical context and then the relationship between inequality and growth. He concludes that Africa will miss goal 1 of the Sustainable Development Goals on the elimination of extreme poverty by 2030 by a substantial margin. The chapter uses three income measures of extreme poverty for low, lower-middle and upper-middle countries to frame the current situation in Africa and then discusses and forecasts the impact of social grants on poverty alleviation. A final section presents the results of a scenario, Social Grants for Africa, and compares the results with the poverty forecast in the Current Path.