Malawi’s inequality soars

A report by Oxfam International has exposed the growing levels of inequality in the country, with the gap between the richest 10 percent and the poorest 40 percent of Malawians said to have increased by almost a third between 2004 and 2011.

Titled ‘A dangerous divide: the state of inequality in Malawi’, the report also shows that during the same period, Malawi’s Gini coefficient—which measures the extent of distribution of income—also jumped from 0.39 (on a par with Cameroon) to 0.45 (on a par with the Democratic Republic of Congo-DRC).

The study, which also covers 2014 in some areas, looks at inequalities across a range of dimensions including consumption, education, health and wealth.

It also looks at how inequality is reinforced by corruption, gender inequity and an unequal distribution of political power.

“If in the next five years inequality were to increase at the same pace as it did between 2004 and 2011 (that is the Gini increased by six points from the current level of 0.45 to 0.51), while consumption was still projected to grow by 10 percent, then the projected number of poor people in 2020 would be 9.5 million.

“This means that even with consumption growth of 10 percent but a worsening of inequality, there would be over a million more poor people in Malawi in 2020 than if there was no change in inequality but growth was still as robust,” reads the report in part.

According to the report, a further worsening of inequality by 10 points from 0.45 to 0.55, would see 10.2 million poor people in Malawi in 2020.

“In contrast, if inequality were to decrease to the level it was in 2004, that is a six-point Gini decrease, but, consumption still grew at 10 percent, then the projected number of poor people in 2020 would be 7.2 million. There would be 800 000 fewer people in poverty in Malawi than the eight million seen in 2015,” it adds.

In an interview, Oxfam’s regional director for Southern Africa Nellie Nyang’wa said the state of inequalities across a range of dimensions in Malawi—including consumption, education, health and wealth—clearly represent a dangerous divide.

“Without tackling inequality in Malawi, we risk trapping people in poverty for generations, and seeing the numbers of people in poverty increase. For the sake of all Malawians, and especially the poorest and most vulnerable, this dangerous divide must be addressed,” she said.

She urged government to take steps to tackle spiralling inequality in Malawi, saying the country’s Vision 2020—which aspired for ‘a fair and equitable distribution of income and wealth’ – is in severe danger of never being realised, let alone by its 2020 deadline.

Speaking during the report’s launch last week, Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe agreed with the report’s observations.

He acknowledged the threat that inequality poses to the goal of attaining sustainable development for Malawi.

“If this situation is not reversed, our road to eradication of poverty will be a long one, and in fact may not be reached for many generations. Poverty may even increase in this country,” said Gondwe.

Malawi has experienced rapid economic growth in recent years, but the gains of this growth have not been spread evenly and the gap between rich and poor has widened at an alarming pace as at present, half of all Malawians live in poverty.

Both the Malawi inequality report and Oxfam country strategy were launched on November 26 in Lilongwe.