Africa Books: The Rise of Africa鈥檚 Middle Class
by Henning Melber
Zed Books, London, UK, 2016; 288 pp; $34.95
The book, The Rise of Africa鈥檚 Middle Class, poses a perplexing question about Africa鈥檚 middle class: 鈥淏y definition, 鈥榤iddle class鈥� is a relative term鈥攊t鈥檚 somewhere above poor but below rich, but where?鈥�
This fluidity and lack of definition on what makes up Africa鈥檚 middle class, especially since the continent is experiencing the emergence of a notable middle class only recently, has captivated many anthropologists and researchers into finding out what sets this economic class apart from others and what exactly defines it as being 鈥渕iddle.鈥�
Henning Melber, a senior adviser of both the Nordic Africa Institute and the Dag Hammarskj枚ld Foundation in Sweden, is one such researcher who has sought to provide a framework to define the term.听 Mr. Melber, initially, through recent writings in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reports and the UNDP Human Development Reports, explained that middle class 鈥渋s used in an inflationary manner to cover almost everything without any further internal differentiations that exist within a very broad band of income groups, thereby signifying little to nothing.鈥澨�
As such, Mr. Melber鈥檚 288-page book provides empirically-backed case studies on sub-Saharan African countries such as South Africa and Kenya that shows a diverse array of perspectives of what middle class in Africa entails. He is able to weave together short essays along with the input of political scientists, economists as well as development experts to further explore the status of the continent鈥檚 middle class.
