Rural–Urban Economic Inequality andPoverty in Africa: A MultidimensionalComparative Study of Selected Countries

Abstract:

This study aims to analyze rural–urban economic inequality and its relationship with poverty in selected African countries through a multidimensional approach that goes beyond income disparities to encompass wealth, employment opportunities and job quality, productivity, access to basic services, and infrastructure. The study adopts descriptive-analytical and comparative approaches, drawing on data from international institutions and recent academic literature, with a comparative analysis of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda. The findings reveal persistent rural–urban disparities across most of the indicators examined, particularly poverty rates, wealth levels, and access to electricity and basic drinking water, while the magnitude and characteristics of these gaps vary considerably across countries.

The study also shows that lower observed unemployment rates in rural areas do not necessarily indicate better labor-market conditions, given the prevalence of informal, seasonal, and low-productivity employment. By contrast, general food insecurity indicators display relatively limited rural–urban differences, suggesting that the spatial dimension is less pronounced in this indicator than in other dimensions of inequality. The findings further indicate that spatial disparities are associated with the accumulation of multiple forms of deprivation, weaker human capital formation and intergenerational mobility, and limited transmission of the benefits of economic growth to less advantaged groups. The study concludes that rural–urban inequality does not follow a uniform pattern across the selected countries, and that poverty reduction requires spatially sensitive policies targeting areas where high poverty levels overlap with weak service provision and employment vulnerability, without assuming a direct causal relationship between inequality and poverty.