So far so good? Tracking the poverty eradication goal of SDGs in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa

• Published date: 01 November 2019
• Date: 01 November 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1964
• Author: Mandla A. Mubecua,Ojochenemi James David

ACADEMIC PAPER

So far so good? Tracking the poverty eradication goal of SDGs

in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa

Mandla A. Mubecua |Ojochenemi James David

Department of Development Studies,

University of Zululand, Richards Bay, South

Africa

Correspondence

Mandla A Mubecua, Department of

Development Studies, University of Zululand,

Private Bag X1001, KwaDlangezwa 3886,

Richards Bay, 3900 South Africa.

Email: mubecuama@gmail.com

This paper tracks the progress of the Sustainable Development Goals in selected

countries in sub‐Saharan Africa, namely, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. The study

assesses economic indices such as GDP growth, employment, and poverty rate of

each country to understand the present performance of these countries and the fea-

sibility of it attaining the first goal of the Sustainable Development Goals. Considering

the current economic outlook and trajectory of these countries, eradicating poverty in

2030 is highly unlikely, unless drastic measures are taken. GDP growth in Kenya is

currently low, whereas the poverty and the unemployment rate are very high. Nigeria

still battles with economic recovery following the recession since 2016 and a soaring

poverty level. Equally, South Africa is saddled with the problem of rising poverty,

unemployment, and corruption. The study recommends that cooperation between

government, civil society, and the private sector needs to be drastically improved

and promptly to meet the poverty eradication goal by 2030.

1|INTRODUCTION

Persistent high poverty levels and its accompanying social ills continue

to threaten the human society and the prospect of sustainable devel-

opment, especially in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA). These topic issues of

poverty attracted the attention of the United Nations General Assem-

bly during the formulation of the Sustainable Development Goals

(SDGs) of 2030 in the year 2015, following the largely unmet Millen-

nium Development Goals (MDGs). Poverty is particularly pronounced

in SSA, which lags behind other regions in most development indices,

despite its rich natural endowment. Over 4.3 million Africans currently

live below the poverty line, a reinforcement of the 2016 World Bank's

report that many Africans are poorer now than in the 1990s. Although

poverty is only an aspect of the broader notion of development and

can hardly be comprehensively captured in material terms, it is central

to the overall notion of well‐being. Thus, its prioritization in the SDGs

is hardly misplaced, and its eradication, especially in SSA, remains an

urgent concern.

Notwithstanding the MDGs' effort to end poverty by 2015, the

outcomes upon expiry have been greeted by mixed reactions. On

the one hand, social commentators saw the MDGs as a significant suc-

cess considering its impact on the global poverty reduction. On the

other hand, however, economists and critics faulted this position,

especially with reference to SSA, highlighting that the global outlook

was only explainable in terms of poverty reduction in China, India,

and East Asia. Indeed, the MDGs were not met in Africa as well as

South Asia. Although there was some notable progress in meeting

some of the goals in countries like China, the MDGs targets were

not fully met at the time of expiry, hence a transition to the SDGs

(Munitlak Ivanović& Zubović, 2017). As with the MDGs, the goal of

poverty eradication ranks first in the SDGs. The goal is critical

especially in SSA, a subregion most burdened with the triple ills of

underdevelopment, namely, poverty, unemployment, and inequality.

Hence, seeking “to build on the success of the MDGs”and complete

its shortfalls, the SDGs aptly recognize poverty eradication as an

“indispensable requirement for sustainable development in its three

dimensions—economic, social, and environmental”(Yearbook Environ-

mental International, 2012).

Understanding why the MDGs were not fully achieved in many

countries especially in SSA by its deadline remains critical to the suc-

cess of the SDGs. For instance, Gebreworld (2009) observed that

the reasons SSA and other countries failed to achieve its target of

eradicating poverty in 2015 may as well affect the target of 2030 of

the SDGs. Central to these reasons is what he observed as lack of

Received: 5 December 2018 Accepted: 22 April 2019

DOI: 10.1002/pa.1964

J Public Affairs. 2019; :e1964.

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1964

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa 1of819