What is a minimum income for you?

People working full time in Africa are nevertheless impoverished, so what should a minimum income be?

Other people have no access to work at all. Meanwhile, experts at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) note that a minimum wage in Africa is a "blunt instrument" that may not confront economic insecurity.

In an ideal world, governments should provide social security through a minimum income, in effect a social security grant but many say that this is unaffordable.

What do you think is your minimum income? (Please give US$ equivalents where possible) Is there a minimum wage where you work? Would you ever challenge it? How best can governments address the poverty of the employed and the unemployed?

Please read a selection of your comments below. This debate has now closed.

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Your comments:

I am always running out of money every month Yussuf Allii, Tanzania

I work in the internet cafe here in Arusha. I spend 12 hours working and earn 70usd per month. I paid 30usd on a one-bedroom apartment and food expenses per month is like 30usd. So I am always ruining out of money every month. The government should do something about this.
Yussuf Allii, Arusha, Tanzania

Dear Minnesota, your life may be hard compared to others in Minnesota. But do you have running water that has no chance of giving you typhoid, do you have a toilet, do you have a stove, do you have food every day, do you have a job, do you have a tin roof not thatch? Then you are better off than most in Africa.
Leonie, Australia

I earn $1.28 daily. This is for working from 8am-8pm. I commute through public means which means I use $0.4 for my fare to work daily not forgetting my lunch which takes $0.3. Mind you I haven't eaten my supper not forgetting other pressing needs. At the end of the month I find myself with no cent left. No savings in the bank.
Moses Mbero, Kisumu, Kenya

Right now I am between jobs and I can barely afford food everyday. I think that the perfect minimum wage for me would be 6.50 an hour because I am a high school senior who has 2 car payments, a cell phone bill and 2 car insurances, but I could live off 6.50 an hour. But, if they were to raise the minimum wage to something higher like 8 dollars an hour, the cost of living would jump. Another thing that would happen would be that people that were making 8 dollars an hour would be mad, because people who were making 5.40 an hour before would be given a 2.40 raise when the people making 8 dollars an hour maybe earned raises over time to get where they are now.
BJ , Whitehall, Pennsylvania, USA

I am employed as an underwriter, in Windhoek, and earn around US$4500 a month. In my country, Namibia, the living wage is around US$250 a month. The problem is that Windhoek is rated one of the most expensive cities in Africa, if not in the world. African economies remain paralysed to absorb the cost of living for its population. It's not easy to achieve paying a living wage on our continent.
Sam, Windhoek, Namibia

It is very difficult for a black graduate to get the job they deserve Jonso Tee, USA

Anonymous in Minnesota you might not be the worst. I earn a paltry $8.75 an hour and for the seven years I have been in USA I have failed to make it to $10.00 an hour despite sending myself to school and acquiring two Masters degrees, one in Economics and the other MBA in Finance. I am black too and I am discovering it is very difficult for a black graduate to get the job they deserve here in USA. While I could safely say my minimum acceptable wage would be USD$35000.00 per annum, I currently have to accept and do with a paltry $18000.00 per annum. I have to support my family on that meagre salary, which is not even enough for me alone. I even fail to encourage my child to go to school for my family is seeing no benefit from it. To me, if you are black, and worse if you are foreign, the minimum wage is the value of money enough to keep your skin on your nose - wherever you may be. Forget about the theory of free and liberal America.
Jonso Tee, Toledo , Ohio USA

I think a $1,500.00 USD minimum income per month, which include taxes & utility bills etc, is reasonable for most governments, including mine - Nigeria.
David Oghenewede, Warri, Nigeria.

Minimum wage anywhere in the world should be $325/month. In my own national currency, this is approximately =N=1,500.00 (one thousand, five hundred naira) daily. Thank you.
Ishola Oaide, Nigeria

"The future will be bright for those who know how to wait". Here in Ethiopia being an engineer or doctor has no effect on income. I am an engineer. My monthly income is only $150. I have nothing left. But imagine I am lucky. I have a friend with the same qualifications, but he earns only $100.
Berash, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

I have never come across a local farmer dreaming of villas or an automobile.
Mohammed, Ethiopia

I am a young man, 30yrs old, married and have one child. I earn $120.00 per month. This amount can't even pay my rent, let alone cover my transport costs. I am unable to save because my income cannot see me to the next pay day. One would think that I am not educated, but I am a qualified procurement officer. How do I survive each month? By God's grace.
Pat, Lusaka, Zambia

I am a business man, I earn $10000 a month. But this cannot solve all my problems. If there is a chance to earn such money in Africa, the sky should be my limit.
Ogun Ojo Obasuyi, Stary-Oskol, Bel. Region, Russia

I earn $6300 a month in the USA, but after all taxes & other deductions I take home a little over $4000. I survive.
Sorie Sankoh, Westville, USA

I currently earn about $3000 a month. That's about N408,000 in my native Nigerian currency. If I earned that in Nigeria, I would live like a king. Though I am single, its barely enough to enable me to have savings over here.
Emeka, Placentia, CA, USA

A very capitalistic undertone to the question. Can we talk instead of a society where a human has no need of a "wage" and just works and is taken care of irrespective of what he does.
Vidyanath Kaushik, Bangalore, India

Instead of governments imposing a minimum wage, the wage should be set based on what one can conceivably live on and not just subsist.
Jethro Singer, Santa Monica, CA, USA

People have many children regardless of being able to afford them Liz, UK

I really don't agree with the comments that wages should be based around the assumption of having a large family. Surely part of Africa's problem is that people continue to have many children regardless of not being able to afford them. Instead, have a minimum wage. But make it clear that the fewer children, the better life for each this wage will be able to buy.
Liz, London, UK

Your pay should be matched to your skills.
Anon, Glendale, CA

Reading various comments from other Americans, I don't think that there is much to complain about here. I make $10.50 and hour, and live in Boston, the most expensive city, statistically, in the US. I pay $1350 a month for a 1 bedroom apartment. My wife is a full time student, and makes about $400 a month from a part time job at her school. We make just enough to get by, right now. But that's ok. We are getting by. I think you should be paid according to what you deserve, not what you need.
Anonymous, Boston, USA

The material wealth of the world is finite, but the human population grows by 200,000 persons every day. This is a recipe for the perpetuation of poverty.
Joe, St. George's, Grenada

I am now earning more than double what I was six years ago and yet am no better off!
Karl, Northampton, UK

When I got my first real job as an engineer paying $30,000 per year, I thought I would be able to buy anything I wanted. Live like a king. No normal thing would be out of my reach. Ha! I was very very surprised to find that I easily spent everything on more-or-less normal living, including buying an old house and repairing it. Now I make twice that much and I have a family and we have money left over. But only one family member is happy.
Bill Carey, Rural Oklahoma, USA

I work with people from Nigeria and Ghana. They earn the same as me here and they complain that what they earn here is not enough to live, even though they are building big houses in their homeland.
Alan, Clydebank, Scotland

The whole world is the same, I am one of America's poor Anon, Minnesota, USA

I am one of America's poor. I earn $11.00 an hour, and after taxes, I am left with about $8.00 an hour. That sounds like a lot of money, right. I pay $700 for a one bedroom apartment for my child and I. $100 on public transport, $400 on day care for my child, $50 for the phone, $30 for electricity, $100 for groceries, and I am left with nothing, to begin the next month again the same way. I am poor and black. So, I get fired easily, and it is tough to get another job. The whole world is the same, that is the point I am trying to make.
Anonymous, Minnesota, MN, USA

While governments are meant to set minimum wages, the Kenyan government for example has not been able to see this through in effect.
Sammy Ole Oinyiaku, Nairobi, Kenya

I am a Ghanaian living in the USA and earn about $4000 a month. After taxes, social security and monthly expenses, I am left with about $800 of which I send part home and save the rest. If I earned even a quarter of that in Ghana, I might be far better off. Minimum income and cost of living go hand-in-hand and can be quite deceptive.
Nana Oduro, Texas, USA

How can people in rich countries, such as my own, allow such injustice and oppression to continue to occur in Africa Adam Loeffler, USA

As I began reading all of these responses my heart began to swell up with both frustration and sadness. I have travelled to many of the countries that have responded and pray that one day I will live there, and I have seen and lived with the poor there. I consider all of them my brothers and sisters. It breaks my heart to hear this discussion taking place. How can people in rich countries, such as my own, allow such injustice and oppression to continue to occur in Africa. It makes me nauseous to think about a child dying every 3 seconds in Africa from a preventable disease or about the millions of people starving to death because of the current famine, while people in rich countries are arguing about better health care and wasting food. What made these rich countries so much better than everyone else? Nothing! So, we need to stop acting like it. We need to stop spending ridiculous amounts of money on futile efforts such as "wars" and start educating! , feeding, and caring for the poor and oppressed people of this world.
Adam Loeffler, Nashville-TN, USA

A minimum income should be that income which would keep every worker above poverty line, irrespective of where they work.
Venatius David Musa, Bauchi State, Nigeria

I feel that minimum wage should reflect the nature of the family one has to support in terms of the number of children & their age. The family needs sufficient to fulfil their basic needs for food - 2 meals a day - education, clothing and shelter. Anything above that would only leave room for people to indulge in non-essential expenses. I think the main reason for such discrepancy is that certain individuals are paid more than they require, causing others to be paid less. We need to develop a society where money is NOT the motivating factor for high skilled jobs!
Shareef, T Nadu, India

I honestly cannot tell what would be a minimum wage in a runaway inflation regime. It is hard to talk of minimum wage in a situation where, among other things, transporters and market women jerk up prices the moment government announces a general increase in workers' salaries.
Deji Egwaoje, Lagos Nigeria

We Vietnamese now have a higher standard of living although some where there are still poor people and government do their duty to decrease the poverty. The most thing I notice is how we earn this income and pay it useful. How much is enough for my family? USD1000 a month, I wish!
Hoang Thu, Hochiminh

There is minimum wage in Europe, and yet the people are still finding it hard to save. Africa should stop comparing herself to the west, because there are no similarities. You don't compare an orange to an apple.
Naisha, Lusaka, Zambia

The so-called minimum wage is only applicable to the poor working class in most developing countries here in Africa, but certainly not those greedy politicians. For them a minimum wage is what they spend on their pets.
Osabutey Anny, Cape Coast, Ghana

Surviving is not living Anon, Ethiopia

I am an engineer and had close to 3 years industry experience working for a US company, with 300USD pay per month. I heard minimum legal wage is 120Br. per moth (14USD). Of course there are many hired for 60Birr per month (6.50 USD!). This is simply unfair! Surviving is not living! What the government can do? Well, I am not an economist but I think it has to take some measure either to increase the buying ability of our money or creating - or helping business persons to create - more jobs, so that there will be competition towards employees and more time to work.
Anonymus, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

I'm a high school graduate from Sudan, last year, and I'm working 11 to 12 hours a day where I am earning $25 per month, because I can't argue with it because Africa has no public service work or employment to employ workers.
Aarai, Tali, Sudan

The amount Africans earns wouldn't be in the news if the loot of its leaders stashed in western banks were returned to them.
Tony Arinze, London, UK

In oil-rich, potentially wealthy, Nigeria, the politicians have prudently ruined the economy by carting nation's wealth away to overseas countries and set the minimum wage to US$53.57/month. For similar qualifications and experience other minimum wages are US$668.57/month for locales and US$8,840/month expatriates.
Anji-Sob Erekosima, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Minimum wage and the "poverty line" should be judged country by country.
Gibson, England/Asia

Minimum wage in Africa may destroy the few jobs Abel G, USA

I believe imposing a minimum wage in Africa is counter productive because it will cause hardship for struggling entrepreneurs and certainly will increase unemployment. Actually, in most cases, especially in the western world minimum wage laws are politically driven, not by economics anyway. Minimum wage in Africa may destroy the few jobs they have got. One more point: most employees in Africa are paid bi-weekly or monthly, not hourly. It will certainly complicate things even further imposing it.
Abel G., Seattle, WA USA

Regardless of your location, poverty is still poverty.
Popisa, Maryland, U.S.

Isn't this what PPP is for? I lived in southern Africa and what one earns there, be it in the formal or informal economy, is usually much less than that of the "west." Therefore, a "minimum" wage should always be a living wage. To live, eat, raise children and survive differs so much between countries that the metric needs to reflect actual conditions, not a defined, universal number.
Ben, USA

The concept of a minimum wage doesn't work here in southern California because we have so much illegal labour. Why would an employer pay a worker $6.75 an hour when our law enforcement looks the other way when illegal Mexican workers will work for pennies on the dollar. I manage a property and we have a hard time finding legal workers that are willing to do maintenance work for $7.00 an hour with no benefits.
Megan Guerra, Southern California, USA

I am surprised we are even asking this question. The minimum income in Africa is to get 1 or 2 meals a day if your lucky.
Ahmed Warsame, London UK

We augment our low incomes with subsistence farming Jason Osa Abusomwan, USA

In Africa we augment our low income wages and salaries with subsistence farming. Although this does not translate directly into cash, it ensures that we live above the means of our minimum wages. Minimum wage is what it is; an economic index devised for the developed nations.
Jason Osa Abusomwan, Pennsylvania, USA.

How can African countries be expected to pay high minimum wages when their GNP is sometimes under what some individuals make in a year in the "Developed" world?
Conal Oliver, Aberdeen, Scotland

The fact is governments, employers and some individuals concentrate too much on accumulating. In so doing, they have priced out the poor.
Sunny A, London UK

I am a government worker. I get $70 per month. I pay house rentals $40 per month. You can imagine how can you manage to spend $30 in a family of five and a bag of our staple food meal is about $11 a bag and you need about three. The government is busy preaching to fight out corruption. How can you fight it like this? It is only God who is keeping us. Housing allowance is 50000K which is $14
Frank Mbewe, Zambia

The unpaid Somali farmer told me he was satisfied with his life Teddy, Ethiopia/Norway

Minimum Income? I am just wondering why we people think only about money when it comes to income. I was in a place outside Jijiga in south-east Ethiopia two years ago. A Somali farmer invited me to join him for some pieces of 'chat' leaves for lunch. He also told me it was his favourite meal. His house is built from pieces of special grasses. He has camels and a piece of land that he may or may not cultivate, depending on his mood. He also had many children and a wife who are dependent on him. Yet, I don't have such a family and I would earn around $100 per month at that time. He told me, he was very satisfied with his life. But, I was always wanting to earn more. So, I rather believe that a minimum income may be any amount of 'money' that would give us satisfaction to live a life like the unpaid Somali farmer.
Teddy, Ethiopia/Norway

I visited a coffee farm in Moshi last year. A coffee picker who worked for 10 hours a day was paid the equivalent of 80p per day. Considering many of us who work in the city are coffee quenchers, I think we should address such issues as why poverty cannot be eradicated
Shilen Shah, London, UK

The minimum wage is $40 per month while costs are $400 Chris, Zambia

The minimum wage in Zambia is currently US$40 per month. The cost of essential food and non-food items for an average-sized family of six living in the capital city Lusaka is over US$400 per month. Poverty wages are widespread all across Zambia as employers take advantage of high unemployment rates and desperation to pay their workers next to nothing. Despite calls from trade unions, church, NGOs and society at large, the government has refused to establish a Poverty Datum Line for Zambia and has failed to update the minimum wage since 2002, with average inflation rates near 20%, in fear of scaring off foreign investment.
Chris , Lusaka Zambia

I earn about $480 monthly. This would seem to be fairly well paid by average African standards, but I tell you it is a far cry from the actual worth of my output which the employer has attested to. Many indeces need to be put into consideration vis-a-vis the actual worth of the purchasing power of this money.
Femi Adedoyin, Abuja, Nigeria

I wonder what this question is really trying to address? Minimum wage in whose country and in what currency? Africa is not one uniform culturally homogeneous landmass. The purchasing power parity which compares the economic baskets is not a reliable tool. Taking inflation and exchange rates into question will consistently change the value of the minimum wage. The minimum wage for each country should be the value of money that is able to cover the basic requirements of its lower/middle class, assuming rent is subsidised or people have their own accomodation and or the accomodation is relatively cheap.
Johnson Tagarisa, Toledo , Ohio

It is the allowance one needs for day-to-day survival until the next payroll Bheki Mpala, South Africa

A minimum wage becomes relative to the country one is in. It is only fair to consider one person and not how many one has to support, otherwise it loses its meaning. I would therefore sum it up as an allowance ONE needs to necessitate a day-to-day surval till the next payroll. ie basic needs such as food, transport, health and rent.
Bheki Mpala, Jo'burg, South Africa

As a single federal civil servant, my monthly salary of about N30000 ($230), excluding benefits, is just about enough to take care of my monthly needs, but I know that for many of my colleagues, especially those with large families, this is not sufficient. To me, a minimum wage should be able to take care of your basic needs for at least a month.
Peter, Calabar, Nigeria

My minimum wage is what I earn, because I am managing till the next 30th without any franc remaining Let's say about $120. Our governments should at least subsidise many who were able to get their degrees and are not employed. This would reduce the issue of trying to get to the west illegally.
Arnaud Emmanuel Ntirenganya, Bamenda, Cameroon/Rwanda

In Africa, salary structures for a minimum wages are meaningless for a worker who wants to take care of his family. If a minimum wage for a worker is less than $100 dollars, how can such a person pay his utilities and even school fees for his children? I think the time has come for leaders and employers to address this issue amicably to safeguard the trend of salaries for most Africans.
Kwaku Ofori Addo, Ghana

Take home pay cannot do just that Francis Ohuonu, Gambia

The take home pay of many African workers cannot do just that - take them home.
Francis Ohuonu, Serrekunda, Gambia

It would be a grave mistake to compare the wages of the western world to that of Africa. Can you equate living in a roach-infested one-bedroom apartment in New York City, paying over $1000 a month and earning $10.00 an hour? If you consider that the good life, then we need to look for a balance somewhere.
Nenye, New York, USA

Minimum wage is what I believe is the least I should earn to maintain a living I desire.
Tunde Alao, Lagos, Nigeria

Some ten years ago I went to the U.S. embassy in Ethiopia to apply for a visa to continue my education there. I remember one of the two questions the women working at the embassy asked me was how come I did not have any savings? I told her that I did not have a bank account, let alone savings, because there was nothing to save from the 900 Ethiopian birr (a little over $100) I earned back then teaching at the University. She denied me my visa at that point. She told me that I don't have any compelling reason to come back to Ethiopia, once I finished my education and I was an "immigration risk". I can't say she was totally wrong, but all I could tell her back then was I had been to the U.S. once before and did not take the chance to stay there although I had every reason to do so. That is a long story... My point is simple. Minimum wage is a trite economic concept whose utility has never been clear to me at all.
BiBi, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

I'm not in the public service. I worked with an NGO and earned less than what my equivalents were earning. With my degree I used to work for 10 hours - no payments for overtime - and earn about $100. Challenge it, you will fired!
Ali A. Garba, Jos, Nigeria

My father told me to study hard so I would live a good life. What should I tell my son? Lalisa Benti, Ethiopia

When I was at school my father was telling me that I should study hard so I would live a good life. I did so and I became an Engineer and my daily income is 8 USD. But how can I live a good life with 8 US dollars, like my father told? And how can I tell my son to study hard to live a good life?
Lalisa Benti, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The problem with a minimum wage is basic economics. If too high, employers cannot afford to employ more people and therefore unemployment is rife. Africa should focus not on a minimum wage, but rather maximizing available labour. And the only way to do so in my opinion would be through communistic government principles until a capitalistic society could survive.
Scott Perry, East London, South Africa

What the government terms as a minimum wage in my country - about 40 dollars a month - is peanuts and most people are paid much less. It is really tough to address the issue of poverty and employment, as so many people are poor, jobless and illiterate. But I think the government should at least create a conducive environment to enable people to move to self-employment and on the other hand create employment opportunities for the few professionals.
Gladys Fahari, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Minimum wage depends on where one lives, at least for Kenya. Foodstuffs and transport are very expensive in Nairobi. Even for the other three major towns, $3200 per year is minimum. For rural Kenya $ 1000 is OK. Even so, one is living from hand to mouth.
Andrew Kioi, Nairobi, Kenya

Minimum wage is not always practical for the employer Ellebee, Bristol, UK

Having been an employer in Southern Africa when a minimum wage structure was to be enforced. My staff opted to job share rather than lose their jobs as I could not afford the minimum for each of them. In theory minimum wage is a wonderful thing for the employee but not always a practical thing for the employer
Ellebee, Bristol, UK

Minimum wage should be any amount in consonant with the living standards of a particular country, as opposed to making an easy conversion to $US. In Nigeria for instance, £200 could secure one an accommodation for an entire year - depending on the location, of course - but the same amount is considered as peanuts in the UK. So, whatever amount a country adopts as the minimum wage should be enough to take care of the basics.
Larry Akpan, Bradford, England

The real issue is providing the basic infrastructure that is required for minimum basic quality of life - water, good roads, reliable transport, power supply, good schools, easy access to health services, security apparatus, and justice.
Erovie, Warri, Nigeria

One US dollar will provide a wholesome meal for a family of five in Kenya Jen, Kenya

I concur with Olumide's remarks that it is misleading to give the figure equivalent in dollars or any foreign currency. The equivalent of one US dollar in Kenya is enough to provide a wholesome meal for a family of five - the same cannot be said for its purchasing power in economies where the cost of living is as high as in America or Europe. I always tell my friends not to be fooled by the huge sums of dollars paid to people in the west.
Jen, Kisumu, Kenya

I am a student and my monthly income is less than $5. My father is a retired teacher. He earns less than $10 from the monthly payments the government gives him. This is too little money that an African parent who has to support a family of five fully grown up people.
Paul Monde Shalala, Lusaka, Zambia

The problem here is that nearly all African nations are not using a payroll system like the West and other developed countries are using.
Duop Chak, Colorado, USA

Please stop equating African currencies with the Dollar, because the dollar is not use for payment of goods and services in Africa. What one dollar cannot buy in the west, a cent can buy in Africa.
Simon Yila, Abuja, Nigeria

Yes there is a minimum wage here and its $5.75 I think and it is not enough to survive on. In a study that I read a couple years ago it said that a person in the US could not afford a one bedroom apartment plus utilities, unless they made $8.80 an hour.
Rich Lilljeberg, Chicago-Il, US

There's nowhere in the world that a minimum wage can provide one's basic needs. People all over the world, no matter where it is, who earn only the minimum wage are living below the poverty line.
Peter Kalu-Obuba, Canada

It is not enough to stipulate a minimum wage Ope Ogundokun, Nigeria

Addressing poverty requires a holistic approach. It is not enough for governments to provide social security or social assistance. Economic issues such as inflation also need to be addressed. Governments should promote small and medium enterprises through loans and tax incentives. In short, there should be a general atmosphere favourable for economic growth and investment. It's not enough to stipulate a minimum wage which does not correspond to minimal comfort.
Ope Ogundokun, Lagos, Nigeria

I am a widow. As a widow I get a pension of about 680¿uros monthly. My daughter is on job training and gets a net allowance of over $350 monthly. As she is still on job training we get from the authority child support ¿150 monthly. And, fortunately, we don't pay rent, so I am happy with my life.
Jana Mueller, Stuttgart, Germany

The minimum wage in Uganda should be at least 100 US Dollars, given to unskilled workers like office runners and farm casual labourers. For the wage to be meaningful Income Tax, Pay As You Earn and National Social Security Fund should be consolidated into the tax, which should not be more than a quarter. Another quarter may be invested in a saving and credit scheme to enable the worker to have an additional income. Since the standard of living in Uganda is still relatively low, 100 US Dollars would be affordable by both government and private sector.
Ahmed Kateregga Musaazi, Kampala, Uganda

What is a living income for you? Prince Jusu Nallo, Sierra Leone/Canada

Very interesting question. However, the appropriate question to pose is, what is a living income for you? Minimum wage quite often falls below the poverty wage. Minimum wage does not guarantee a living wage. As an example, we have minimum wage in every jurisdiction in Canada, but it falls below the poverty income. I was responsible for determining the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) for volunteers living in several African countries. The research analysis revealed that the concept of minimum income is relative and based on economic forces that are beyond the parameters of many African governments. In Ghana, the minimum wage is approximately $2.50, but many Ghanaians live below both the minimum and poverty income.
Prince Jusu Nallo, Sierra Leone/Canada

The best way to describe my minimum income is by only marking it as "X" because there is absolutely no way to describe the specific income in Africa.
Duop Chak Wuol, Colorado, USA

Despite the fact that most people in Africa are burning the candle at both ends by working nine to five in order to survive; they end up with an income that can barely take them home. Relatives abroad makes it a bit more plausible to live from pay check to pay check. If you want the next pay check, just put up with whatever you are paid and forget about contesting it.
Abubakar Ibrahim, Accra, Ghana

The basic wage in Africa is for the whole family A.Ya, Burkina Faso

You know the salary in Africa is for the whole family. The basic minimum wage should be $1000 a month.
A. Ya, Burkina Faso

I have worked in Ghana for 17 years as a missionary and have seen the effects of people not having enough to get their daily needs. However the talk of a minimum wage needs to take into account the relative cost of living in any particular country. I know recently they have increased the minimum wage from 7,500 cedis (less than a dollar) to 13,000 - nearly two dollars - but who is really getting it. A gallon of fuel now costs 30,000 cedis - nearly three days minimum wage!! We need to remove subsidies from the world market so that Africa may benefit from its agricultural produce and the workers get a better price for their produce.
Diarmuid Sheehan, Dublin, Ireland

When you folks talk about minimum wages, I laugh. My salary is less than 100 dollars a month. I can only drink a bottle of coke and one bottle of beer. I stay in a room with almost 60 occupants sharing the same toilet and bathroom. Most of the salary (60%) is for feeding, 15% for transport, 10% for rent. I have no savings anywhere.
Nelson, Warri, Nigeria

You can't have rich without poor Mariam, Ethiopia

There is no such thing as minimum income here. you can get as low as one cent depending on the "employer." You can't have the rich without the poor and my country is the ultimate lowest class. Rich countries NEED to keep us poor.
Mariam, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The question should not be what is a minimum income, but what the minimum standard of living should be!
Tich, Berlin, Germany

Minimum income should be category based. In my case US$800.00 per month would be appropriate. There is no such thing as a minimum income at my work place. In fact my employer would wish you to work without a salary at all. Governments should encourage unambiguous, straight-forward salary guidelines, which employers would be required to observe. For the unemployed, governments should engage them in community services such as cleaning of cities, conservation efforts e.g. tree-planting, helping in hospitals, etc. for a survival income/provision of food, clothing, and some pocket money.
Tayari, Mombasa, Kenya.

To be very frank with you, right now I have no choice but to be contend myself with the about $115 I earn a month. As a university graduate in management I know I deserve far better than this but the prevailing employment situation in my country has forced me to eat humble pie while hoping for a brighter tomorrow.
Israel Ambe Ayongwa, Bamenda, Cameroon

I will say Amen to the establishment of social security and better waging Pal Gatkuoth Deng, USA

I will say Amen to the establishment of social security and better wagging for the workers in Africa. As a former junior teacher in Africa, this question touched me a lot. I worked hard teaching school children for eight hours, making one dollar and twenty five cents a day that gave me a total of $40 a month. At that time it seemed to me that it was a relevant wage in my English department compared with some of my co-workers who made $0.95 cents per day. According to my experience low waging caused serious laziness among the workers. Here in the USA, my wage is being calculated on an hourly rate and my right as a worker is also being respected by my employer.
Pal Gatkuoth Deng, Lincoln Nebraska, USA

In theory, it sounds good for African governments to have a basic minimum wage policy for African workers, however in reality 99.9% of African economies are not yet robust enough to support such initiatives. The governments do not yet understand their role and obligations to their people, and corruption is still a big obstacle that is endemic in most echelons of government in Africa. Therefore I do not feel that it is appropriate at this stage to be debating such policies/ initiatives within the African context, such policies are simply not feasible at this stage of the African development cycle.
Arthur Ngoka, Wimbledon, England

A minimum wage loses its meaning if anyone who is termed as employed cannot afford the cost of basic needs Prossy Nannyombi, Uganda

A minimum wage should cater for one's basic needs like clean water, power, food and medical expenses. Otherwise having a minimum wage loses its meaning if anyone who is termed as employed cannot afford the cost of the basic needs even though they are working for over eight hours more per day. Remember, taxes levied on one's monthly salaries are high compared to what is saved in a social security fund.
Prossy Nannyombi, Entebbe, Uganda

Minimum wage policy has never really worked in Nigeria. Whenever the minimum wage is raised, prices of basic items immediately increase. In western Europe and the USA, besides minimum wage, there are other support initiatives for the poor like the social security stipends, disability benefits, subsidised housing and Medicaid.
Anthony Okosun, Baltimore, USA

A discussion on the minimum wage cannot commence until we get the indices right. The Western media makes life easier for itself by converting everything to $US, rather than using purchasing power parity. The media then comes up with statements like "this and that per cent of the population are paid less than $1 a day", without explaining that a dollar in the local currency may be worth a lot more than the same amount in New York.
Olumide, London, UK

It is not only in Africa where those working full time and are low earners are the only ones impoverished. The same happens in some Western countries. For example here in northern Germany, you earn as little as about 1150 Euros a month on a full time job as a low earner. Your gross pay is taxed and you remain with say 800 Euros net. You are expected to pay your apartment at about 450 Euros. Then you pay utilities and other costs such as telephone about 300 Euros. You are left with meagre amounts that cannot sustain you according to the standards of the so called "the west".
Anonymous, Hamburg, Germany

If you want the next pay check just put up with whatever you are paid and forget about contesting it Abubakar Ibrahim, Ghana

Despite the fact that most people in Africa are burning the candle at both ends by working nine to five in order to survive, they end up with an income that can barely take them home. Governments in Africa make you feel lucky and highly favoured to have got a job. We can only equate the peanuts we receive at the end of the month to the issue of survival. If you want the next pay check just put up with whatever you are paid and forget about contesting it.
Abubakar Ibrahim, Ghana