Average incomes have more than doubled in nine African countries since 1990
Though most African countries saw economic growth after gaining independence, extreme poverty remains high across the continent. In 2019, almost 60% of people living below the international poverty line, defined by the United Nations as $2.15 a day, resided in sub-Saharan Africa.
Where incomes rose, standards of living improved as well: Extreme poverty rates and child mortality declined in Ghana, Cape Verde, and seven other countries.
Why We Wrote This
In our progress roundup, sometimes a long view is needed to see significant change: Note the African countries overcoming colonialism and other challenges to grow their economies. In other cases, like the adoption of solar energy in Pakistan, rapid change is increasing people’s sense of safety and well-being.
Not all of the continent has seen such gains. Incomes decreased in Madagascar, Burundi, and Zimbabwe. Yet globally, extreme poverty rates fell precipitously between 1918 and 2018, from 60% to 10%.
Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff/File
Sources: Our World in Data, World Bank
First Nations rescuers have become a critical component of the Canadian coast guard
When a whale-watching boat sank off British Columbia in 2015, people from the First Nation village of Ahousaht were first on the scene. Their quick action accelerated the formalization of the coast guard’s program to engage with First Nations, a recognition of their expertise and historical role in marine rescues.
In the years since, eight First Nations and dozens of their coastal communities have participated in the search-and-rescue auxiliary. The coast guard provides support and training, as well as equipment and infrastructure. Longtime First Nations participants note the necessary building of trust with the government and the mutual benefits. And rescue specialist Tom Stere said, “They’re a critical component of our [search and rescue] response, without question.”
Sources: Hakai Magazine, Coastal Nations Coast Guard Auxiliary
Colombian women are choosing fish farming where coca plantations once thrived
Through a self-established co-op, an aquaculture initiative is challenging environmental damage and gender roles. In southern Colombia, the district of Putumayo has long been dependent on coca cultivation for cocaine, resulting in an economy with high levels of violence and human rights abuses. But a women’s collective established by former coca workers in 2013 focuses on a legal alternative – aimed at a stable income and reduced reliance on coca.
The small group operates four fish farms, producing nearly 4 metric tons of tilapia and other fish every six months for domestic distribution.
Graciela Castillo, who works at the co-op, says the effort isn’t just about financial gain – it’s about creating agency for themselves and their children. “Now it’s our strength, and each of us has gotten empowered,” she said.
Source: Mongabay
The Brussels Court of Appeal ordered the government to compensate five multiracial victims of colonial abductions
Belgium ruled what are now the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda from 1908 to 1960. Between 1959 and 1962, some 20,000 children born to Belgian fathers and African mothers were, without their mothers’ consent, taken from Africa and placed in church-run orphanages in Belgium, where they endured poverty and abuse.
In its ruling, the court rejected the argument that the state was not responsible because the kidnappings were not crimes at the time. Each plaintiff won €50,000 ($52,000).
The Belgian government first acknowledged the policy in 2019, when then-Prime Minister Charles Michel apologized for the kidnappings. “It’s a very large part of our lives that was taken away from us,” said plaintiff Lea Tavares Mujinga. “But at least it’s a gesture of some relief.”
Sources: Human Rights Watch, Agence France-Presse
Solar power is picking up steam in Pakistan
Some experts are calling this the world’s fastest solar transition. At least 17 gigawatts of low-cost photovoltaics were imported from China before the end of 2024, and the country was one of the world’s biggest solar installers last year.
The surge is supplementing an unreliable grid beset by aging infrastructure and a fuel shortage. Islamabad resident Shafqat Hussain, who was motivated to install solar panels after his mother’s hospitalization for heatstroke, said his family has a newfound “sense of safety” and an 80% reduction in its power bill.
The residential and commercial turn toward decentralized power generation is forcing the state-run grid to raise prices and is making it more difficult to predict energy needs. The cost of solar panels has plummeted worldwide by 90% in the last 15 years.
Sources: Renewables First, Deutsche Welle
