The reforms implemented after the end of the civil war in the early 1990s spurred a strong recovery, ending a two decade slump. The benefits of agricultural price liberalization have spread quickly, boosting growth of rural incomes. Urban poverty, on the other hand, has been stagnant. Urban inequality has risen, in part because of large population movements resulting from the civil war, and in part as a result of economic reform, as agricultural price liberalization raised consumer prices in urban areas and civil service rationalization reduced urban employment. Unfortunately, progress is likely to have been slowed by the border conflict.
Security is a massive problem for the region.
Internal conflict and civil war continue to threaten lives and livelihoods, and we have evidence from participatory assessments that the poor are particularly anxious about conflict and what it means for their lives and those of their children. The problem is exacerbated by the general absence of safety nets, such as workfare programs. These trends are leading to polarization in Africa. The immediate challenge is to help countries in the middle countries like Cameroon , Chad , Kenya so that they can achieve better living standards for their people. Recent data from Tunisia , however, suggests the elasticity of poverty reduction to growth may be declining, meaning that faster growth will be needed to achieve similar reductions in poverty as in the past.