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The inflationary atmosphere that has dominated the global economy for more than a year, related to the effects of the war initiated by Russia in Ukraine, has devastated the purchasing power of a substantial swathe of consumers, both in Europe and elsewhere. The first to be affected by this situation are, quite obviously, households with low income and middle class backgrounds who can rapidly slide into poverty. If this is true in the developed nations, it is even more so in developing countries, beginning with the nations of Africa whose economic growth depends greatly on the rise of the middle classes. Yet, even leaving aside recent developments in the wake of the Covid crisis and the war in Ukraine, this emergence of middle classes in Africa remains very much hypothetical, as Marc Lautier demonstrates here. After briefly reminding us of the economic situation in Sub-Saharan Africa, the main global reservoir of current — and future — working-age populations, Marc Lautier examines the notion of the middle class and its contribution to socio-economic development. He shows the extent to which definitions and analyses of the middle class differ and often display excessive optimism. Opting personally for a definition based on income level and the purchasing power it confers on individuals (in other words, a population that has emerged from poverty), Lautier shows that, except probably in South Africa, the middle classes seem likely to remain very marginal in Sub-Saharan Africa — including in the long term. They are likely to represent little more than 4% of the population by 2030, which would not provide demand-pull growth and trigger a lastingly positive economic dynamic. Looking further into the future, the outlook is not so cut-and-dried and will depend very greatly on regional demographic dynamics.