Africa's potential, its opportunity and its rise has long been the fascination of development practitioners, academicians and diplomats. More recently, narratives have picked up on various economic trends that identify sustained economic growth patterns outpacing the rest of the globe. One highly contentious and enthralling narrative due to its double-edged nature is the possibility that the rapid population growth Africa is experiencing can result in a positive outcome for the continent, despite its undeniable threat to the continent and the globe if not managed effectively.

This narrative is framed by the term ‘demographic dividend’ (DD). It refers to accelerated economic growth, which is initiated by a rapid increase in fertility and decline in mortality resulting in a change in the age structure. This change can lead to an economic dividend, if among other factors, those affected countries are able to navigate from being dominated by dependent children to being dominated by economically productive working adults. In other words, DD can be defined as ‘the rise in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita that can result from an increasing proportion of effective income-earners relative to the number of consumers in a population due to shifts in the population age structure and to enhanced productivity resulting from investments in health, empowerment, education and employment’ (UNFPA, 2018, p. 10). The UNFPA also remarks that the global DD started in 1973 and is projected to continue until 2026. However, in Africa, the DD started in 1991 and, according to current population projections, will continue until 2083 (p. 10). Presently, Africa is the only region in the world where the youth population is still increasing (see Figure 7.1).

According to the UN, in 2015, 226 million youth aged 15–24 lived in Africa, accounting for 19 per cent of the global youth population. Between 2017 and 2050, it is projected that the number of youth in Africa will increase by 51 per cent (Sow, 2018). The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that Africa will account for 80 per cent of the increase in the global population, and it is expected to have a population of about 10 billion by 2100 (Drummond et al., 2014, p. 4). The African Development Bank estimates an increase in the youth population of 42 per cent, from 226 million in 2015 to 321 million in 2030 (2018, p. xv).