• Between 2000 and 2015, human exclusion as measured by the ASDI decreased in 29 (of the 34) African countries with available data: within a
range of 1.5 percent in Mauritius to 41.7 percent in Morocco.
• In five countries (Egypt, Gabon, Malawi, Swaziland and Zimbabwe) the level of exclusion increased, within a range of 1.3 to 43.3 percent.
• Income poverty and undernutrition are the major drivers of human exclusion in most countries (see Table below).
• Other factors, such as weak economic performance in Zimbabwe, health challenges especially HIV in Swaziland, and poor service delivery in
Malawi, have contributed to an increase in exclusion between 2000 and 2015 in these three countries.
• Notwithstanding country specificities, exclusion has generally declined with improved policy targeting and social protection measures,
particularly for the vulnerable groups of the population.
• Availability and accessibility of data at the time of the ASDI analysis have been a challenge in Central African Republic, Cameroon, Congo-
Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea; Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Sudan; Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone;
Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa; and Libya.
• On average, the ASDI for rural areas is higher than in urban areas (2.5 and 1.8 respectively). Only in Benin, Swaziland and Zimbabwe urban
exclusion is higher than rural exclusion. However, rural areas registered a higher decline in human exclusion (13.2%) than the urban areas
(6.9%) in the period 2000-2015 across countries with available disaggregated data.
• Disaggregating the data by gender, women and men appear to experience the same level of exclusion (2.4 and 2.3) on average. However,
the ASDI among women has reduced much faster than among men (13% and 5% respectively) during the period 2010-2015.
• Of the 34 countries, data at sub-national level was available only in 20 countries. In these countries, the results showed significant variation in
the levels of exclusion – reflecting high within-country inequalities.
• Policy makers also identified some structural factors that might challenge the reduction in human exclusion over time, including weak
institutional capacities, limited resources and misalignment of sectoral policies to national development strategies.

Table: Key drivers of human exclusion in Africa (2000-2015)