Climate change is one of the most urgent development challenges of our time. The African continent, which contributes less than 5% to global carbon emissions, is also the region most vulnerable to the impacts of changing climates. This as the capacities of Africans to adapt to climate change are severely constrained by inequalities in land and other assets, income, and wealth. Therefore, addressing inequality boldly is essential for adequate responses to climate change. At the same time, the reduction of inequality is necessary for growth to reduce poverty effectively. Although many African countries have grown rapidly in recent decades, this growth has translated weakly into poverty reduction. Thus, confronting inequality sits at the center of sustainable and inclusive development and the climate crisis adds to the immediate necessity for action.

In this context, Dr Rawane Yasser (Agence Française de Développement – AFD) and Prof. Murray Leibbrandt (Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit – SALDRU) discuss how climate change, inequality, and growth interact to shape Africa's development prospects and what policies are required to turn vicious cycles into virtuous cycles. 

Their talk is based on the last two chapters in Inequalities in sub-Saharan Africa: Multidimensional perspectives and future challenges. The book was edited by Dr Anda David, Prof. Leibbrandt, Prof. Vimal Ranchhod, and Dr Yasser and published by the World Bank and AFD in January 2025.

This seminar is the fourth and final in our 2025 series of presentations on African inequalities. 

About the presenters

Rawane Yasser is a researcher at the AFD working on inequalities, poverty, labour markets, and international migration. She has worked at the Interdisciplinary Laboratory for the Evaluation of Public Policies at Sciences Po Paris on gender inequalities in the labour market as the Women in Business Chair. Yasser has coordinated and implemented impact evaluations at the International Food Policy Research Institute, evaluating the impact of agricultural development projects in Djibouti, Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania. She joined the AFD Research Division in November 2021. Yasser holds a master’s degree in development economics from Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne at the Institute of Economic and Social Development Studies, with a focus on the economic evaluation of development policies and projects.

Murray Leibbrandt holds the UCT Research Chair in Poverty and Inequality Research at SALDRU and is the Director of ACEIR. He was Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Poverty and Inequality at UCT and SALDRU’s Director from 2013 until July 2023. His research focuses on the use of survey data, particularly longitudinal studies, to explore poverty, inequality, and labour market dynamics in South Africa and across Africa. Murray has served on advisory committees on key national policies and was part of the G20 Africa Expert Panel tasked with advising the Minister of Finance during South Africa’s G20 Presidency.