Although it is not obvious at first glance, belief in the powers of the spirit world is still very much alive in Africa. People at the highest levels of society, including cabinet ministers, consult witchdoctors to buy charms that are supposed to bring personal or political success. The amounts paid to the witchdoctors are substantial, with witchdoctors making more in a typical day than a normal person makes in a typical month.
A worldview in which events are thought to be caused by the spirit world rather than being the natural consequence of human actions leads to significant distortion in the allocation of resources. If wealth is believed to come from keeping the spirits happy, rather than from productive work over a long period of time, then people divert their efforts and resources into appeasing the spirits, rather than into productive work.
Witchcraft also contributes to crime – which is another cause of poverty – because it encourages people to think that they can cheat and get away with it. Just pay a substantial sum of money for a charm, and all your problems will disappear. However, it is difficult to estimate the exact extent of economic loss caused by witchcraft, because those who indulge in it are typically extremely reluctant to admit it.