Africa's Demographic Transition

Africa's Demographic Transition PDF Author: David Canning
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464804907
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 217

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Book Description
Africa is poised on the edge of a potential takeoff to sustained economic growth. This takeoff can be abetted by a demographic dividend from the changes in population age structure. Declines in child mortality, followed by declines in fertility, produce a 'bulge' generation and a large number of working age people, giving a boost to the economy. In the short run lower fertility leads to lower youth dependency rates and greater female labor force participation outside the home. Smaller family sizes also mean more resources to invest in the health and education per child boosting worker productivity. In the long run increased life spans from health improvements mean that this large, high-earning cohort will also want to save for retirement, creating higher savings and investments, leading to further productivity gains. Two things are required for the demographic dividend to generate an African economic takeoff. The first is to speed up the fertility decline that is currently slow or stalled in many countries. The second is economic policies that take advantage of the opportunity offered by demography. While demographic change can produce more, and high quality, workers, this potential workforce needs to be productively employed if Africa is to reap the dividend. However, once underway, the relationship between demographic change and human development works in both directions, creating a virtuous cycle that can accelerate fertility decline, social development, and economic growth. Empirical evidence points to three key factors for speeding the fertility transition: child health, female education, and women's empowerment, particularly through access to family planning. Harnessing the dividend requires job creation for the large youth cohorts entering working age, and encouraging foreign investment until domestic savings and investment increase. The appropriate mix of policies in each country depends on their stage of the demographic transition.

Africa's Demographic Transition

Africa's Demographic Transition PDF Author: David Canning
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464804907
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 217

Get Book Here

Book Description
Africa is poised on the edge of a potential takeoff to sustained economic growth. This takeoff can be abetted by a demographic dividend from the changes in population age structure. Declines in child mortality, followed by declines in fertility, produce a 'bulge' generation and a large number of working age people, giving a boost to the economy. In the short run lower fertility leads to lower youth dependency rates and greater female labor force participation outside the home. Smaller family sizes also mean more resources to invest in the health and education per child boosting worker productivity. In the long run increased life spans from health improvements mean that this large, high-earning cohort will also want to save for retirement, creating higher savings and investments, leading to further productivity gains. Two things are required for the demographic dividend to generate an African economic takeoff. The first is to speed up the fertility decline that is currently slow or stalled in many countries. The second is economic policies that take advantage of the opportunity offered by demography. While demographic change can produce more, and high quality, workers, this potential workforce needs to be productively employed if Africa is to reap the dividend. However, once underway, the relationship between demographic change and human development works in both directions, creating a virtuous cycle that can accelerate fertility decline, social development, and economic growth. Empirical evidence points to three key factors for speeding the fertility transition: child health, female education, and women's empowerment, particularly through access to family planning. Harnessing the dividend requires job creation for the large youth cohorts entering working age, and encouraging foreign investment until domestic savings and investment increase. The appropriate mix of policies in each country depends on their stage of the demographic transition.

The Demographic Transition and Development in Africa

The Demographic Transition and Development in Africa PDF Author: Charles Teller
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9048189187
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 367

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Book Description
"The heated Malthusian-Bosrupian debates still rage over consequences of high population growth, rapid urbanization, dense rural populations and young age structures in the face of drought, poverty, food insecurity, environmental degradation, climate change, instability and the global economic crisis. However, while facile generalizations about the lack of demographic change and lack of progress in meeting the MDGs in sub-Saharan Africa are commonplace, they are often misleading and belie the socio-cultural change that is occurring among a vanguard of more educated youth. Even within Ethiopia, the second largest country at the Crossroads of Africa and the Middle East, different narratives emerge from analysis of longitudinal, micro-level analysis as to how demographic change and responses are occurring, some more rapidly than others. The book compares Ethiopia with other Africa countries, and demonstrates the uniqueness of an African-type demographic transition: a combination of poverty-related negative factors (unemployment, disease, food insecurity) along with positive education, health and higher age-of-marriage trends that are pushing this ruggedly rural and land-locked population to accelerate the demographic transition and stay on track to meet most of the MDGs. This book takes great care with the challenges of inadequate data and weak analytical capacity to research this incipient transition, trying to unravel some of the complexities in this vulnerable Horn of Africa country: A slowly declining population growth rates with rapidly declining child mortality, very high chronic under-nutrition, already low urban fertility but still very high rural fertility; and high population-resource pressure along with rapidly growing small urban places”

Africa's Population: In Search of a Demographic Dividend

Africa's Population: In Search of a Demographic Dividend PDF Author: Hans Groth
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319468898
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 525

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Book Description
This book examines the promises as well as the challenges the demographic dividend brings to sub-Saharan Africa as fertility rates in the region fall and the labor force grows. It offers a detailed analysis of what conditions must be met in order for the region to take full economic advantage of ongoing population dynamics. As the book makes clear, the region will need to accelerate reforms to cope with its demographic transition, in particular the decline of fertility. The continent will need to foster human capital formation through renewed efforts in the areas of education, health and employment. This will entail a true vision and determination on the part of African leaders and their development partners. The book will help readers to gain solid knowledge of the demographic trends and provide insights into socioeconomic policies that eventually might lead sub-Saharan Africa into a successful future.

Demographic Change in Sub-Saharan Africa

Demographic Change in Sub-Saharan Africa PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309049423
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 396

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Book Description
This overview includes chapters on child mortality, adult mortality, fertility, proximate determinants, marriage, internal migration, international migration, and the demographic impact of AIDS.

West African Studies Urbanisation Dynamics in West Africa 1950–2010 Africapolis I, 2015 Update

West African Studies Urbanisation Dynamics in West Africa 1950–2010 Africapolis I, 2015 Update PDF Author: Moriconi-Ebrard François
Publisher: OECD Publishing
ISBN: 9264252231
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 95

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Book Description
In 1950, there were only 152 urban agglomerations in West Africa. Since then, the number of agglomerations has increased to almost 2 000 town and cities which are home to 41% of the region’s total population.

Recent Fertility Trends in Sub-Saharan Africa

Recent Fertility Trends in Sub-Saharan Africa PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309381193
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 89

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Book Description
Fertility rates and population growth influence economic development. The marked declines in fertility seen in some developing nations have been accompanied by slowing population growth, which in turn provided a window of opportunity for rapid economic growth. For many sub-Saharan African nations, this window has not yet opened because fertility rates have not declined as rapidly there as elsewhere. Fertility rates in many sub-Saharan African countries are high: the total rate for the region is estimated to be 5.1 births per woman, and rates that had begun to decline in many countries in the region have stalled. High rates of fertility in these countries are likely to contribute to continued rapid population growth: the United Nations projects that the region's population will increase by 1.2 billion by 2050, the highest growth among the regions for which there are projections. In June 2015, the Committee on Population organized a workshop to explore fertility trends and the factors that have influenced them. The workshop committee was asked to explore history and trends related to fertility, proximate determinants and other influences, the status and impact of family planning programs, and prospects for further reducing fertility rates. This study will help donors, researchers, and policy makers better understand the factors that may explain the slow pace of fertility decline in this region, and develop methods to improve family planning in sub-Saharan Africa.

Africa Rising

Africa Rising PDF Author: Mr.Paulo Drummond
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1498329721
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 22

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Book Description
Africa will account for 80 percent of the projected 4 billion increase in the global population by 2100. The accompanying increase in its working age population creates a window of opportunity, which if properly harnessed, can translate into higher growth and yield a demographic dividend. We quantify the potential demographic dividend based on the experience of other regions. The dividend will vary across countries, depending on such factors as the initial working age population as well as the speed and magnitude of demographic transition. It will be critical to ensure that the right supportive policies, including those fostering human capital accumulation and job creation, are in place to translate this opportunity into concrete economic growth.

La transition démographique de l'Afrique

La transition démographique de l'Afrique PDF Author: David Canning
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464808236
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : fr
Pages : 228

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Book Description
Résumé : L'Afrique est sur le bord d'un lancement potentiel de croissance économique soutenue. Cette ascension peut être accélérée par un dividende démographique dû aux changements dans la structure par âge de la population. Les baisses de la mortalité infantile, suivies par la baisse de la fécondité, produisent une génération «renflement» et un grand nombre de personnes d'âge actif, donnant un coup de pouce à l'économie. Dans le court terme, une fécondité plus faible engendre une baisse des taux de dépendance des jeunes et une plus grande participation de la population active féminine en dehors de la maison. La réduction de la taille de la famille signifie également qu’il reste davantage de ressources à investir dans la santé et l'éducation par enfant, augmentant ainsi la productivité future des travailleurs. Au long terme, une durée de vie accrue résultant de l’amélioration dans le domaine de la santé signifie que cette vaste cohorte aux gains élevés sera également désireuse d’épargner pour la retraite ainsi que pour la création de l'épargne et des investissements plus conséquents, conduisant ainsi à d'autres gains de productivité. Deux choses sont nécessaires pour que le dividende démographique génère un décollage économique de l'Afrique. La première consiste à accélérer la baisse de la fécondité qui est actuellement au point mort ou lente dans de nombreux pays. La seconde est les politiques économiques qui profitent de l'occasion offerte par le changement de la démographie. Alors que l'évolution démographique peut produire plus, et des travailleurs de meilleure qualité, cette main-d'œuvre potentielle doit être employée si l'Afrique se doit de récolter le dividende. Cependant, une fois en route, la relation entre l'évolution démographique et le développement humain fonctionne dans les deux sens, c’est-à -dire qu’elle crée un cercle vertueux susceptible d’accélérer la baisse de la fécondité, le développement social et la croissance économique. Les recherches scientifiques montrent trois facteurs clés pour accélérer la transition de la fécondité: la santé des enfants, l'éducation des femmes et l'autonomisation des femmes, notamment par l'accès à la planification familiale. Exploiter le dividende démographique nécessite la création d'emplois pour les grandes cohortes de jeunes qui entrent en âge de travailler et qui stimulent les investissements étrangers jusqu'à faire augmenter l'épargne intérieure et l'investissement. La combinaison appropriée de politiques dans chaque pays dépend de leur stade de transition démographique. Etant la dernière région à subir la transition démographique, l’Afrique peut tirer les leçons des réussites et des échecs des autres régions dans l'exploitation d'un dividende démographique. Le succès exige (i) l'accélération de la transition démographique; (ii) une économie dynamique produisant des revenus et des investissements plus élevés pour une jeunesse mieux éduquée et en meilleure santé.

The Demographic Dividend

The Demographic Dividend PDF Author: David Bloom
Publisher: Rand Corporation
ISBN: 0833033735
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 127

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Book Description
There is long-standing debate on how population growth affects national economies. A new report from Population Matters examines the history of this debate and synthesizes current research on the topic. The authors, led by Harvard economist David Bloom, conclude that population age structure, more than size or growth per se, affects economic development, and that reducing high fertility can create opportunities for economic growth if the right kinds of educational, health, and labor-market policies are in place. The report also examines specific regions of the world and how their differing policy environments have affected the relationship between population change and economic development.

The Future of Africa

The Future of Africa PDF Author: Jakkie Cilliers
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 303046590X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 429

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Book Description
This open access textbook offers a critical introduction to human and economic development prospects in Africa revolving around three questions: where is Africa today, what explains the current state, and, given historical trends and what we know about the world, where do we think the continent will be in 2040? And, a final question: what can we do to create a better tomorrow? It models ambitious progress in health, demographics, agriculture, education, industrialization, technological leapfrogging, increased trade, greater stability, better governance and external support. The book reviews the future of work/jobs, poverty and the impact of climate change. A combined Closing the Gap scenario presents a forecast of what could be possible by 2040. Each chapter suggests which policies might accelerate prospects for each sector. Written in an accessible style, and supported by a range of pedagogical features, this textbook introduces undergraduate and graduate students to the contemporary human and economic development prospects in Africa.