Poverty remains an existential threat and the greatest obstacle to humanity’s progress. It is the Greek philosopher, Plutarch, who observed that “an imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics – and, I must add, nations and civilisations.

 Poverty is also a destabilising force. As a form of social injustice, poverty breeds discontent. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, abject poverty is the worst form of violence.

In Africa, poverty is intertwined with instability in a vicious cycle that hampers long-term development and impoverishes communities. Today, two divergent narratives define humanity’s fight against poverty. One narrative, largely Hobbesian, is that of a world losing the war against poverty.

 In its recent report, titled Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2020: Reversals of Fortune, the World Bank warns that extreme poverty is expected to rise this year for the first time in more than 20 years.

The socio-economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic have pushed no less than 88 million people to extreme poverty. This figure is likely to rise to 115 million, raising the total number of people living in extreme poverty globally to between 703 million and 729 million.

Extreme poverty

The second narrative, largely Lockean, is China’s recent triumph over extreme poverty. China has shrunk the number of poor Chinese from 99.7 per cent in 1978 to 4.7 per cent by 2018! Today, China stands at the threshold of completely eradicating extreme poverty. China’s success is a direct result of the ‘reform and opening up’ policy it adopted in 1978.

In 2013, President Xi Jinping committed China to defeat extreme poverty by 2020, and put in place stringent measures to beat the deadline. As a result, China has lifted more than 850 million people out of extreme poverty, a historic contribution to humanity’s poverty reduction efforts.

China becomes the first country to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goal of poverty reduction 10 years ahead of the 2030 target. Lessons of experience in poverty reduction are key to ensuring humanity’s collective progress. In Africa, lessons from the Chinese experience in defeating poverty are vital to the realisation of African Agenda 2063 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

China’s experience throws up a number of lessons for humanity. First is the need for clarity of thought, strategy and political will exhibited by China’s contemporary leadership in fighting the scourge. China is a civilisational state. Its poverty reduction approach is firmly anchored on the ancient philosophy on governance.

Rich philosophy

“In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of”, Confucius noted. “In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.”

Drawing on this rich philosophy, President Xi elaborated and contextualised China’s guiding thoughts, vision and principles on poverty reduction in his book, Up and Out of Poverty.

The first lesson is that the fight against “poverty” must begin in the mind. It requires confronting and changing attitudes and practices that sustain the “poverty mentality”.  Second, poverty eradication is not a downpour, it is a gradual process like “water droplets drilling through rock”.

Third, casting off the yoke of poverty permanently is a multi-generational enterprise that requires a combination of long-term objectives and short-term planning. Fourth, defeating poverty must be poor-centered: “Letting the weak hatchling be the first to fly.” Finally, science, technology and education are key to defeating poverty, especially in impoverished regions.

The second broad lesson is the need for deliberate, systematic and scientific approach to poverty reduction, with clear policy measures, institutional mechanisms and milestones coordinated at the highest level of leadership.

In 1993, China rolled out the Dibao programme, its homegrown unconditional cash transfer programme that serves as the primary safety net for the poorest individuals in Shanghai and other areas by 2007. By 2014, China established more than 30,000 poverty alleviation workshops, helping 770,000 registered impoverished people get employed around their localities.

Third, resource mobilisation is central to defeating poverty. Beijing more than doubled the annual government budget devoted to poverty alleviation from $7.5 billion in 2015 to $18.3 billion in 2019.

African Union Agenda

As the 2021 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit gets under way in Senegal, four areas of cooperation demand deeper reflection. First, it is necessary to rethink the African Union Agenda 2063 as a viable roadmap for poverty eradication and wealth creation in Africa.

 Second, the 2021 FOCAC summit provides an ideal platform and opportunity for China and Africa to share experience in poverty reduction and explore innovative ways to scale up cooperation and dialogue to promote China-Africa poverty reduction cooperation.

Third, the establishment of the China-Africa Institute, unveiled by President Xi in 2018 and now providing policy and intellectual support for Belt and Road Initiative and FOCAC, is the sharpest arrow in the quiver of China-Africa cooperation in poverty reduction.

Four, China and Africa need to step up the fight on Covid-19 to defend the gains made in poverty reduction.

Prof Kagwanja is a former government adviser and chief executive of the Africa Policy Institute. This article is an excerpt from remarks made during the International Forum on Sharing Poverty Reduction Experience, organised by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in Beijing, on 14-15, 2020.