What the APRM does about structural inequalities in access to opportunities Concept It is important to remember that while Africa‘s societies may be afflicted by particular developmental problems, within societies these burdens are not carried equally. Some groups, however these may be defined, are hit harder than others by poverty and have less access to opportunities. Ensuring these differences do not become permanent blockages to mobility for the relatively less fortunate is a dimension of development that needs to be addressed. The focus here is therefore on the inclusivity of socio-economic development so as to ensure the ―class‖ into which a child is born does not determine their destiny in life. The APRM looks at this issue indirectly. The closest, but by no means an exact match is to be found in the 3rd Objective of the Socio-Economic Development (SED) thematic area relating to poverty, unemployment and inequality. Even the standards do not address this bottleneck head-on, but those with some relevance include:  Very little research appears to have been done on questions of social mobility in Africa. Research from elsewhere provides a general template for analysing the situation on the continent. A study conducted by the Pew Charitable Trusts identified three general groups of factors that encourage social mobility. These are:333      Social capital: factors to do with socialisation, influences and networks; Human capital: factors that allow people to seize opportunities, with education and health being especially important; and Financial capital: factors such as monetary resources, whether gifts, transfers, or earned income. International Conference on Popular Participation in the Recovery and Development Process in Africa, African Charter for Popular Participation in Development and Transformation (February 1990, Arusha, Tanzania); OAU, The New Partnership for Africa‘s Development (NEPAD) (2001); and OAU, Memorandum of Understanding, Conference on Security, Stability, Development and Co-operation in Africa (2002, Durban, South Africa). These standards recognise the lack of equal opportunities many African children face and call for how to address them. This is, however, typically phrased in terms of broad policy objectives, such as poverty alleviation and employment opportunities – rather than the issue of structural inequalities per se. A particular concern is that, while Africa‘s economies have been growing, the bulk of the benefits have gone to a relatively small portion of the population. This has been noted in research work on Asia, which has concluded that while economic growth is a necessary element of mobility, it is not a sufficient one.334 Growth has, in other words, not been ‗broad-based‘.335 This section is related to Bottleneck no. 7 on under-development of human resources. Agenda 2063 deals with this somewhat obliquely. Poverty is to be addressed, as is inequality – which is presented as a major threat to Africa‘s stability. 336 It demonstrates a clear concern for social exclusion and social mobility.337 The first 10-year implementation plan of Agenda 2063 is more direct and explicit, saying by 2023, ―education as a main vehicle for inter-generational social mobility would have been expanded and improved.‖338 The persistence of severe inequalities in Africa is a common theme in many of the CRRs. The Tanzania CRR contains an elaborate discussion of this issue directly: 333 334 335 ―Extreme inequalities in opportunity and life chances have a direct bearing on what people can be and what they can do – that is, on human capabilities. A growing body of evidence from around the world shows that: Butler SM, WW Beach and PL Winfree, Pathways to economic mobility: key indicators (Economic Mobility Project: an initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts, 2009). Salze-Lozac‟h V, „Economic mobility and inclusive growth in Asia: the need for improved public-private collaboration‟, in Kim T and A Mulaka (eds), Social Mobility: Experiences and Lessons from Asia (Seoul: Korea Development Institute and the Asia Foundation, 2015) pp. 25-50. See, for example, Ethiopia CRR, p. 131; Tanzania CRR, p. 183; Burkina Faso CRR, p. 310. 336 337 338 62 Agenda 2063, p. 102. Agenda 2063, p. 31. AU Commission, Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want: A Shared Strategic Framework for Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development – First Ten-Year Implementation Plan 2014-2023, p. 43 (italics added).