Economics of Social Protection: Reforming Systems for Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Development in Africa

The worsening plight of the poor and the seeming indifference of the Government calls for a re-evaluation of our policies, programmes, and priorities, especially at despairing and cynical moments such as these. No doubt, the cost of providing social protection is high especially for less developed countries known to have the highest population of the poor. However, what remains a stable fact is that the cost of inaction is always higher.

Yet, most often than not, these poor and vulnerable persons are reduced to mere statistical figures in social policy debates and economic analysis. But the poor have faces, names, and above all, real-life experiences that strongly appeal to the noblest of our duty, and the best of our actions. Perhaps at no time in the history of human existence is the duty of care for the fragile and feeblest among us noblest than now, and almost nothing justifies the existence of a responsible government and societies than the quality of response to those moderate yet humbling concerns which have continued to keep the poorest of the poor on beggarly knees, and the vulnerable among us in perpetual fear of the socio-economic uncertainties of the everyday life.
Doubtless, some considerable progress has been made over the years in social protection. For many countries, progress has been around increased social spending, improved coverage of targeted poor and vulnerable, widening fiscal space for financing social protection, the volume of aid from domestic and international donor partners, and strengthening systems of social protection. But while this progress is commendable, a lot of gaps still exist as over 4 billion people are not covered by any social protection program. What’s worst is not merely that this number represents more than half the world’s population, but that majority of them are in Low-Income Countries with little or no ray of hope in sight.
The recent episode of COVID-19 has ushered in a new dimension to the entire outlook of social protection and calls for the best of our efforts especially as regards our collective safety in every respect. If the pandemic has taught us any lesson, it is that every man is vulnerable, what differs is the degrees of our vulnerability. Also, the poor have never been in the minority, and although limited by socio-economic constraints, yet episodes of civic response in some countries have revealed that every nation is only as safe as the safety of its people.
In this book, an attempt is made to provoke critical thinking in the area of social protection. In simple, yet compelling form, many questions that bother on the nature of social protection and intervention programmes that can be deployed to reduce the scourge of poverty and vulnerability of the poor are answered. This book is thus a veritable gold mine of valuable information and timely truths for policymakers, the academia, and as many who desire to be positive change-makers, especially in the social protection space. It will serve as a useful guide for the design and implementation of result-oriented social protection policies and programmes that are efficient, cost-effective, and compatible to the natural laws of economic development. The book is particularly unique as it attempts to critically view social protection through the lens of economics, highlighting how these issues shape and are shaped by the economic policy agenda of the government.