Africa’s population boom: challenges, opportunities

Africa’s population will continue to rise rapidly over the next few decades, particularly in the Sahel. While this trend has both upsides and downsides, it has a tangible impact on global processes. Namely, Africa’s demographic boom may be among the factors behind regional conflicts, food insecurity and uncontrolled migration.

The statistics are unequivocal: by 2050, Africa’s total population will increase to almost 2.5 billion, an impressive gain compared with 1.36 billion inhabitants in 2023. In less than 80 years, one out of every two newborns worldwide will be African.

The good news is that the increased share of working-age individuals is beneficial to the economies of African countries and beyond. But on the flip side, a larger proportion of the young population means a greater financial burden for governments, as well as added social and security risks.

The thing is that a growing population demands increased food production, something that many African nations may fail to achieve. As of today, four of the five countries in the world with the highest number of children suffering from malnutrition are in Africa, with Nigeria and Ethiopia topping the list.

Despite one fifth of Africa’s population being undernourished, the region is not any closer to achieving the goal of eradicating hunger. On average, African governments allocate only 3.8% of their budgets to agriculture, while some have cut their spending in recent years.

Africa: continent of hope and gloom

“Looking at Africa requires differentiation and understanding of living conditions that are fundamentally different from Europe,” Rudolf G. Adam, a security expert at the Liechtenstein-based GIS, told this author.

“Africa is gigantic. The differences between