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Poverty, a big problem in Africa

Poverty is a big problem in Africa, particularly black Africa. Basic necessities such as food, water, and shelter remain out of the reach of many. According to some statistics nearly 50% of all Africans live below or on the edge of poverty, earning only around $1.25 per day. Access to health care, education, and shelter remains a gigantic problem.

Poverty is a complicated factor throughout almost all facets of life. Inadequate shelter, lack of access to good quality education, poorly equipped hospitals, corrupt political and business practices, and so many other issues. Poverty taints nearly all aspects of life. It is the reason many do things they should and should not do. Poverty is connected to sicknesses and diseases, along with an untimely death. It is connected to child marriage, physical underdevelopment, corruption, brain drain, a lower life expectancy and just about everything else.

The brain drain – the emigration of high skilled, highly trained, and highly experienced professionals from these poor countries to western countries with a higher standard of living is a case in point. Some of Africa’s best talent and skills are now living in western countries, many working in public, government offices, leaving us with a huge intellectual deficit.

The reason for this siphoning away of our best talent is that government jobs in western countries afford them a far more comfortable life, while they also earn significantly more money than if they were to stay and work in their home countries. A key reason for this human capital flight is a lack of employment opportunities or inadequate monetary compensation, along with overall poor living conditions. Political persecution, religious persecution, tribal and ethnic conflicts are also some of the other reasons given for this dangerous trend.

On the surface, brain drain seems to be a simple matter of economics and survival for the professionals. But when looked at much more broadly, communities and nations are put at risk when these critically needed professionals are not available to assist in the implementation of national developments in fields such as education, medicine, science, health, business, engineering, and other vital aspects of life.

Interestingly, out of the global list of countries suffering from brain drain, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa are the top four countries for highly skilled professionals fleeing, never to return. According to some statistics, approximately 25,000 Nigerian medical doctors live in the United States with at least another 10,000 in academia. Nigerian-trained medical doctors in the United Kingdom are estimated at about 7,000, with another 7,000 in academics and other fields. No matter how one looks at it, the nation is made poorer by this cataclysmic loss of talent and skill.

According to the World Bank, the International Poverty Line refers to those who earn less than $1.25 US dollars a day, thus living on the very precipice of existence. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) sets various indicators in its Human Development Index (HDI) to measure poverty in Africa and all other countries. This includes:

 life expectancy at birth

 average school attendance period

 expected school attendance period

 per capita income

As these indicators show, education is closely linked to poverty because those who cannot read and write have little chance of getting a skilled job and building their livelihood beyond the state they find themselves in. In the annual report on human development published by the United Nations (UN), the African countries of Malawi, Liberia, Burundi, Eritrea, Chad, Sierra Leone and Niger are regularly in last place – sadly, this has not changed until 2014.

Sub-Saharan Africa contains the largest number of people living in extreme poverty. See below for a breakdown of where people living with less than $1.90 per day are located.

 413.3 million in Sub-Saharan Africa

 216.4 million in South Asia

 47.2 million in East Asia and Pacific

 25.9 million in Latin America and the Caribbean

 18.6 million in the Middle East and North Africa

 7.1 million in Europe and Central Asia

It is estimated that 104 million children under the age of five are living in extreme poverty, and for children under 18 that number is extended to 328 million (World Bank, 2016).

Because poverty is a complicating factor in every facet of life in Africa, the same is true when it comes to church. This is one of the reasons some pastors and people in leadership positions use church tithes and offerings for the wrong purposes. It is one of the reasons why some church members are dishonest. It is one the reasons why some churches are weak and unable to set goals. It is also one of the reasons far too many church resources go to helping children, women, families and those in need, leaving precious little resources for spreading the gospel, resulting in some churches remaining small and ineffective.

The only good thing to come from all this is that in the midst of this insecurity and lack the gospel finds a ready people, listening ears and ready hands in many African countries. Since the turn of the century, African people have been turning to Christianity in droves. The yoke-destroying, burden-removing, healing message of salvation seems to be exactly what a people downtrodden down by the twin evil of poverty and forces of darkness need at this moment in their lives.

At the end of the 20th century there were barely 40 million Christians on the entire continent. Today, the number is estimated at well over 500 million. According to international bulletin of missions’ research, in 2018 Africa has 599 million Christians while Latin America has 597 million. Europe is now third, with 550 million. By 2050 there will likely be more Christians in Africa (1.25 billion) than in Latin America (705 million) and Europe (490 million) combined.

There are different types of churches all over Africa. The Egyptian Coptic church, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the traditional churches, and the more recent, evangelical, charismatic, Pentecostal churches. Only nine million Christians were in Africa in 1900, but by the year 2000, there were an estimated 380 million Christians. According to a 2006 Pew Forum on Religion and Public life study, 147 million African Christians were “renewalists” (Pentecostals and Charismatics). According to David Barrett, “most of the 552,000 congregations in 11,500 denominations throughout Africa in 1995 are completely unknown in the West. Much of the recent Christian growth in Africa is now due to African evangelism and high birth rates, rather than European missionaries. Christianity in Africa shows tremendous variety, from the ancient forms of Oriental Orthodox Christianity in Egypt, Ethiopia, and Eritrea to the newest African-Christian denominations of Nigeria, a country that has experienced large conversion to Christianity in recent times.

So what does a church service look like in a typical Pentecostal-evangelical church in the average African country, south of the Sahara? What does a pastor’s typical Sunday message look like? What does a typical troubled marriage (husband vs. wife quarrels) look like? How does poverty intersect with faith in a typical African church – for example, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa? What are the day-to-day issues in the life of a pastor or church leader? This book, through different scenarios and discussions, will offer some insight into this intersection of faith and poverty in a typical African Pentecostal church.

This is not a scholarly work on poverty, gospel, or churches in Africa. Those who seek academic information on those topics are welcome to consult other sources. This is intended to provide a brief snapshot on the intersection of poverty and faith, and how they play out in the lives of individuals, families and businesses. At the center is the pastor, who tries to hold everyone and everything together by faith.