Do Sub-Saharan African countries have a better quality of life than the West in the 1950s?

Maciamo · Apr 10, 2024

What is amazing is that a country like Burundi, which is officially the poorest in the world, with a GDP per capita of only $793, still manages to have a life expectancy of 61.6 years (like Spain in 1950) and a child mortality rate of 5.3% (about like Italy and Spain in 1960)! No Western country has ever done so well when they were that poor. The Maddison Project estimated the historical GDP (PPP) per capita (in 2011 International Dollars) of various parts of the world from 1 CE to 1800 and not a single European country has a GDP per capita under $1000 since the 13th century! Going back to the reign of Emperor Augustus, Italy's GDP per capita was about $1400, almost twice more than Burundi today. Other regions of the Roman Empire ranged between $900 and $1100 - all were richer than present-day Burundi. But life expectancy in the Roman Empire was between 22 and 33 years old with a child mortality of over 50%! So wealth does not necessarily correlate with health and longevity.

One explanation is the benefits of modern medicine in even the poorest parts of the world today. But that's not the whole story otherwise there wouldn't be such big differences between poor countries themselves. It also wouldn't explain why Burundi ranks right in the middle of the ranking within Africa for life expectancy and child mortality and not at the bottom.

It could be that people in the region have good genes relating to longevity considering that neighbouring Rwanda also greatly outperforms countries with a similar GDP per capita.

Maciamo · Apr 19, 2024

Another essential aspect of modern life is the presence of running water, sanitation and plumbing in our homes. But this was also a relatively recent development. In 1950, one third of homes in the United States lacked plumbing and a similar percentage didn't have a flush toilet. Yet the USA was ahead of almost every other country back then.

Britain was the most developed European country in this regards, and yet still half of British homes didn't have a bathroom in 1950. This site explains that the 1967 House Conditions Survey found that 25 percent of homes in England and Wales still lacked a bath or shower, an indoor WC, a sink and hot and cold water taps. But by 1991, only 1 per cent of households lacked one or more of these.

In France, only 30% of rural municipalities had running water in 1945 and the French had to wait until 1980 until nearly every home in the country was connected to the water distribution network. According to the 1946 census, although 9 out of 10 main residences in France had electricity, only 6% had a shower or bathtub, 37% had running water from an indoor tap (13% in rural communities) and 20% had indoor toilets. In 1968, less than half of French homes had a bathroom (with shower or bathtub).

Nowadays there are still European countries with a substantial percentage of homes lacking basic sanitations (World Bank data for 2022 ; basic sanitations include toilets and safe drinking water). For example, they are still lacking in 9% of homes in Ireland (very surprising for one of the richest countries in the world with a higher GDP per capita than the USA!), 11% in Russia, 13% in Romania, 14% in Bulgaria, and 21% in Moldova.

In contrast, 100% of homes in the Seychelles have basic sanitations (that's more than in France, Belgium, Germany, the UK, Sweden or Canada, which are all at 99%). Mauritius is at 98% (like the Netherlands). On the African continent itself, basic sanitations are found in 81% of homes in Botswana, 78% in South Africa, 74% in Rwanda, 67% in Djibouti, 66% in Equatorial Guinea, 64% in Eswatini (former Swaziland), 60% in Senegal, 52% in Angola, 50% in Lesotho and Gabon, 49% in Malawi, 48% in Sao Tome and Principe and the Gambia, 47% in Nigeria, etc. In most African countries today, a higher percentage of homes have access to basic sanitations than in France (and most European countries) in the 1950s and 60s!

Maciamo · May 12, 2024

Maps of life expectancy in 1800, 1950 and 2015 show that African countries have caught up with the rich world of 1950.

Maciamo · Jun 6, 2024

Abidjan in Ivory Coast is soon going to have one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world. Tour F, which will be completed next year and will house mostly offices, will reach a height of 400 m. It will be taller than any other building in Africa, Latin America, Oceania, or Europe (except for one tower in Russia). Even in North America they will only be a few buildings in New York and Chicago that exceed its height.

Maciamo · Jun 6, 2024

There are plenty of mega projects underway in Africa at the moment. Here is a video that shows some of them.

Some countries have many impressive projects of their own, notably Ethiopia and Kenya.

Do Sub-Saharan African countries have a better quality of life than the West in the 1950s?

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