Africa Social Protection Policy Briefs – Affordability and Financing of Social Protection Systems

Social protection spending as a share of each national economy tends to increase as the country’s per capita income rises and as the coverage and scope of its social protection programs increase.

Overall spending on social protection in Africa is low by international standards (see box below), and these low levels of spending on social protection are hindering poverty reduction across the continent.

Within Africa there are significant variations in social protection spending. The regional average of 2.8 percent of GDP disguises a wide range of expenditures in different countries, from highs of over 12 and 8 percent of GDP in the Seychelles and South Africa respectively to lows of under 0.5 percent of GDP in Chad, Sudan, Guinea, Niger, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.