Across the globe, the number of children forced to work is in sharp decline; however, Africa is a sad exception to this trend. By the United Nations' latest estimate, more than 49 million sub-Saharan children age 14 and younger worked in 2004, 1.3 million more than at the turn of the century just four years earlier. They are prostitutes, miners, construction workers, pesticide sprayers, haulers, street vendors, full-time servants, and they are not necessarily even paid for their labor. Some are as young as 5 and 6 years old.
See "Africa Adds to Miserable Ranks of Child Workers", Michael Wines, The New York Times, August 23, 2006