Africa – vast continent, big challenges, great potential

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a vast and ethnically diverse region, rich in culture and natural resources.

But with this huge potential come great challenges. For example, 12 out of 13 countries with the highest maternal mortality ratio are found in the region, around one in two people survive on less than a dollar a day, two-thirds of all HIV positive adults and 90% of HIV positive children live here and average life expectancy is 47 years, compared to 79 in the UK.

However, there have been some signs of real progress. Economic growth in SSA in 2007 was above the world average for the seventh year in a row, accelerating from 6.1% in 2006 to 6.6%. Thirty-eight million more children are in primary education than in 1999 and ten times more people living with HIV/AIDS are receiving treatment than in 2003.

And in 2005 G8 leaders signed a debt deal in Gleneagles which by 2007 had benefited 18 African countries. In Nigeria the cancellation of the country's debt has meant that an additional $1 billion a year has been made available for the government to spend on poverty reduction. This resulted in, in 2006, the retraining of 145,000 existing teachers and the recruitment of 40,000 new ones.

DFID funding, in support of partner governments, has helped:

• stabilise HIV infections levels in Malawi, triple the number of people tested for HIV and increase the number of people being treated from 4,000 in 2004 to 130,000 by December 2007
• provide access to clean water and sanitation to over 7 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa between 2003 and 2007
• provide treated bed nets, protecting 1 million people in DRC, 400,000 Malawians and 600,000 Ugandans
• train up to 10,000 new teachers each year and put in place the foundations to enable 1 million more children to complete primary education in Mozambique by 2009
• clean up corruption in the public sector in Uganda by helping to stop payments to 9,000 ‘ghost workers’ and support the government of Zambia recover £20 million stolen by senior public officials.

But despite these achievements, on current trends the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are unlikely to be reached by 2015. In July this year Prime Minister Gordon Brown, speaking alongside the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, launched the MDG Call to Action, with the support of 14 heads of state or governments and 21 private sector leaders. Progress needs to be accelerated if we are going to help partner government reach the MDGs.

Africa continues to face several protracted humanitarian crises, so, over the last three years, DFID has set aside 15-20% of our total bilateral spend in Africa for emergency response. In 2007 DFID provided £205 million in humanitarian aid, contributing towards the delivery of emergency nutrition, health, shelter, protection and livelihoods recovery programmes that reached approximately 30 million people.

Conflict in Africa costs an estimated $18 billion per year. One study estimated that on average each £1 spent on conflict prevention generates over £4 in savings to the international community. Working through the Africa Conflict Prevention Programme, DFID has helped:

• train some 11,000 African peacekeepers since 2004/05
• supported peace processes in Northern Uganda, Sudan and the Great Lakes region, by facilitating negotiations, mediators and analysis
• responded quickly to the request of Kofi Annan to establish an office in Nairobi in support of his mediation efforts following the post-election violence.

In 2007/08 DFID will spend an estimated £1.25 billion on bilateral and regional programmes to reduce poverty in Africa, rising to £1.75 billion in 2010/11 of which 90% will be spent in 14 priority countries.

DFID’s 14 priority countries for 2008-2011 are: DRC, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The UK has made significant commitments to support Africa’s development including through the G8 and the EU. DFID works with other UK government departments, African partners and other donors to act on those promises. The UK is also building a partnership with China to see how both countries can work together to reduce poverty in Africa. In addition, DFID works with Pan African and regional institutions.

For more information on what DFID does across Africa please see our Africa Factsheet(173kb), or on individual country programmes please click on one of the country links at the top of the page.

Last updated: 16 December 2008