Legal notice EU (project) While the Ivorian economy is experiencing a definite upturn, there is hardly any decline in the level of poverty and inequalities. This research program has been included in the Strategic Dialog Memorandum between the Ministry of Planning and Development and AFD, to look for ways and mechanisms that may help lower the level of inequalities. Its aim is to take stock of the inequalities in Côte d'Ivoire and especially to examine the impacts of shocks, access to basic services, and public policies.
Context
An upturn in growth in Côte d'Ivoire since 2012 has been observed, with average growth rates in real GDP surpassing 8%. However, this renewed vitality in the economy has not yet been felt by all of Ivorian society. The level of poverty remains high (46.3%), as does that of inequalities. (The Gini index for 2015 is estimated at 0.402 by the National Statistics Institute and 0.415 by the World Bank). We can thus see that, while the Ivorian economy seems to be doing well, a very large proportion of its population is excluded from the benefits of this economic upturn.
This project is part of the first phase of the Research Facility on Inequalities, coordinated by AFD and funded by the European Commission's Directorate-General for International Partnerships over the 2017-2020 period. The first phase of the Facility has led to the conduct of 22 research projects and the publication of around 100 research papers and policy briefs.
Goal
This research program on inequalities in Côte d’Ivoire will first take stock of the inequalities there, and then it will carry out scientific studies on three themes:
- the impact of shocks on inequalities;
- the inequalities of access to education and to quality health services;
- the impacts of public policies on inequalities.
The study will also focus on the perception of inequalities by Ivorians.
Method
The research on inequalities will take stock of the Ivorian situation and will review the initiatives of public authorities to fight monetary and non-monetary inequalities. Using the data available on the living conditions of the households, the main indicators for the measurement of inequalities will be calculated and a representation of the spatial distribution of the inequalities will be carried out in the form of maps. Subsequently, an analysis will be carried out on inequalities in opportunities (measured by the effect on opportunities from parents’ education, their occupation, place of birth, and gender) with regard to access to property and assets, as well as on the sources and the perceptions of these inequalities.
The study on the shocks will be based on statistical analysis and modeling methods (in particular, a linear regression model and a panel data model will be applied). Access to basic services will be covered mainly with the help of micro-econometric models. The study of the effects of public policies will be considered with a microsimulated inter-industry model, then by impact evaluation models.
Results
The project is expected to produce a review describing the state of public interventions designed to eradicate inequalities in Côte d'Ivoire. The study on the perception of inequalities will also make it possible to measure the extent to which households are conscious of the need for greater social justice and identify possible measures at the individual level. This research will also help identify the mechanisms of intergenerational transmission of inequalities and will propose policy measures for social mobility in Côte d'Ivoire.
This research will give rise to conferences and workshops. Various publications are also expected: a report, policy briefs, and research articles.
You may find the report and the research papers linked to this project here (in French) :
- Etat des lieux des inégalités en Côte d'Ivoire
- D'où proviennent les inégalités en Côte d'Ivoire?
- Analyse de l'impact de la crise de 2002 sur les inégalités en Côte d'Ivoire
- Impacts des dépenses publiques sur les inégalités en Côte d'Ivoire: le cas des secteurs sociaux
You may find the policy briefs linked to this projet here (in French) :
Legal notice EU (project) Inequality has emerged as the social challenge of the decade. Empirically, a series of influential studies of the available international evidence suggest that global inequality has been falling in the last quarter century. However, this encouraging trend appears to have been driven entirely by convergence in GDP per capita across nations and the consequent decline in inequality between countries, with the average inequality within countries remaining constant until the about 2000 but increasing thereafter.
Context
The picture within Africa is more complex, and often obscured by problems with unreliable and non-comparable data, both over time and across countries. The most careful African data analysis suggests that, measured in monetary terms, African inequality is very high, Africa being the most unequal continent. There is, however, huge variation in the magnitude, changes and texture of this inequality across the continent.
This implies a double danger. Africa first needs to ensure that it is included in the international measurements. At least as importantly, the continent must also ensure that the particular contexts of its societies are considered in the analysis both of the factors causing inequality and the consequences of inequality. This analysis is absolutely crucial because it is the basis for policy interventions and civil society action, which are necessary to reverse the trend.
Given this context, a research project focusing on the development of diagnostic tools and capacity building was launched in partnership with the African Center of Excellence on Inequality Research (ACEIR) in the framework of the first phase of the Research Facility on Inequalities. The initial study (2018-2020) led to an in-depth analysis of inequalities in four countries: South Africa, Ghana, Kenya and Cote d’Ivoire. A Handbook on Inequality Measurement, which serves as a foundational guide for multidimensional inequality analysis, was also developed by ACEIR. The Handbook outlines key dimensions and indicators of inequality and provides guildelines for measuring income and beyond income inequalities.
This project was part of the first phase of the Research Facility on Inequalities, coordinated by AFD and funded by the European Commission's Directorate-General for International Partnerships over the 2017-2020 period. The first phase of the Facility has led to the conduct of 22 research projects and the publication of around 100 research papers and policy briefs.
Following the success of this research project:
- A fifth analysis was launched in Mozambique over the 2022-2024 period;
- A research project aming to expand and update the Handbook by incorporating methodologies for assessing vulnerabilities related to climate change and ecological transitions has also been launched over the 2024-2025 period.
Find out more
Goals
The main objective of this research project was to advance the analysis of African inequality and the policy discussion on strategies to overcome inequality in Africa through a series of country-level engagements. The project was given structure and impetus through the development of a diagnostic tool that was implemented in a limited number of pilot countries. This diagnostic tool consists of a thorough analysis of the various inequalities in a given country which enables the government to identify the priorities and policy options in order to reduce them.
In order to build the diagnostic tool, a Handbook was also developed to set up a common base which enabled country comparisons. To extend its use and improve accountability, it was backed with a central data hub and strong data centres in each partner country that allowed and facilitated further inequality analysis.
Existing multidimensional inequality analyses primarily concentrate on examining inequalities within the social and economic domains. While many low-income countries are severely impacted by climate change, there is a notable research gap in the analysis of inequalities related to climate vulnerabilities and their interactions with other socio-economic and environmental factors. The extension and updating of the Handbook, carried out over the period 2024-2025, aims to address this gap and provide the guidelines for integrating the analysis of climate-related inequalities in future diagnostics.
Method
The diagnostic tool is based on three pillars :
- a conceptual and empirical review of the studies on inequality in Africa, allowing us to have a baseline for the development of future projects, as well as a better comprehension of the specificities of inequalities in Africa and of their measurement;
- a Handbook which contains the framework proposed for the country inequality diagnostics, the methodological issues around the measurement of inequalities and their analysis and the important issues linked to policies;
- the support to the implementation of the country diagnostic, in collaboration with the pilot countries’ local research teams and the creation of the data hub.
In order to expand and update the Handbook, researchers will thoroughly examine and synthesise existing literature that addresses the measurement and analysis of climate-related vulnerabilities. This approach will help identify gaps in current research and propose a minimal set of indicators for measuring vulnerabilities linked to climate change and the imperatives of the ecological transition and detail appropriate data and measurement methods to enable their inclusion as part of an inequality diagnostic report.
Results
In practical terms, the country diagnostic takes the form of a report which overviews the inequality within a country, across all relevant dimensions, for a given time and over time. Alongside this, it summarises the main policies passed, or in place, expected to have an impact on inequalities. Each country will use their diagnostic as a platform:
- for policy engagements on strategies to overcome inequality,
- for the stimulation of national dialogue and a national research focus on inequality,
- to lead the national discussion through further, high impact research papers from the country node on inequality.
- The Handbook on Inequality Measurements for Country Studies: in order to insure a certain degree of comparability among all the country studies and to support researchers and statisticians in conducting inequality diagnostics, a Handbook was developed by the African Centre of Excellence for Inequality Research (ACEIR).
- A review on inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa: this research paper takes stock of what we know about African inequality both to promote better analysis and better policymaking in addressing inequality in Africa.
- The diagnostic of inequality in South Africa, carried out by Statistics South Africa in partnership with the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU), ACEIR in the EU-AFD Facility framework: Inequality trends in South Africa: a multidimensional diagnosis of inequality
This report was presented at a workshop involving all actors working to reduce inequality (11 February 2020 in Philippi, Cape Town), on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the release of Nelson Mandela. You will find here the synthesis of the workshop here: Stakeholder engagement on inequality trends in South Africa.
- The diagnostic of inequality in Ghana, conducted by ISSER and the University of Ghana in partnership with the ACEIR in the EU-AFD Facility framework: Inequality Diagnostics for Ghana
- The diagnostic of inequality in Kenya, conducted by University of Nairobi in partnership with ACEIR in the EU-AFD Facility framework: Inequality Diagnostics for Kenya
- An in-depth analysis of inequality in Côte d'Ivoire (in French)
- An analysis on the dynamics of social inequalities in Mozambique, conducted by Instituto de estudos sociais e economicos (IESE) and the University of Cape Town in partnership with ACEIR in the EU-AFD Facility framework
- The research project aming to expand and update the Handbook will result in:
- A research paper that conceptualizes the links between inequalities, climate change and the ecological transition in low and middle income countries (in progress);
- An updated edition of the Inequality Handbook that integrates key metrics of climate change's impact on inequality (in progress).
Contacts
- Anda David, Research Officer, AFD
- Rawane Yasser, Junior Research Officer, AFD