Youthquake: Why African Demography Should Matter to the World

by Edward Paice

A riveting study of Africa's demographics – its youth and growth – and what they mean for the continent, today and into the future.

Africa's population growth in the last 50 years has been unprecedented. By mid-century, the continent will make up a quarter of the global population, compared to one-tenth in 1980. By the end of the century, the proportion could be as much as 40 per cent. This is a mega-trend that should not be ignored.

Africa's youth is the most striking aspect of its demography. As the rest of the world ages, and the population of many countries starts to shrink, almost 60 per cent of Africa's population is younger than 25 years old. This 'youthquake' will have immense consequences for the social, economic and political reality in Africa.

Edward Paice presents a detailed, nuanced analysis of the varied demography of Africa. He rejects the fanciful over-optimism of some commentators and doom-laden prophecies of others, while scrutinising received wisdom, and carefully considering the ramifications of the youthquake for Africa and the world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Africa, Economics

432 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 9, 2021

Reviews

[Richard Marney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing on the whole.

Interesting data presentation ( and indeed an extremely compelling picture of a population wave growing in much of SSA that will make the region the fastest growing in the world in the 21st century ) spicing up an otherwise bland history of the population debate and the impact on growth and stability of demographic pressures.

Nothing especially profound.

[Chris Aylott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intermittently interesting, but more a review of the statistics than a study of the people and cultures. One thing it makes clear is that many demographers would predict just about as well by staring at goat entrails, and that the West should probably be minding its own business and not trying to set Africans' agenda for them.

[Brian Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this on the plane from Oslo home from vacation after finishing Rachel Cusk's book.

I put this on my want to read list several months ago after seeing it on a list perhaps in the Economist. I've been interested in overpopulation and Malthusian info since I took a college class called Survival of Man.

It was not available on Kindle or even in the deep search on Libby where I could add a smart tag so I bought a paperback copy off Amazon and took it to Norway.

I gave it only 3 stars as it was difficult to read - it read like an economic journal with lots of statistics and not as much on the ground reporting as I would have liked. Given that though, I'm very glad I took the time to read it as the message is extremely scary and what is going on in Africa will be interesting to follow over the next 25 years to 2050 as they potentially grow to 2.4 billion people (while China shrinks to 700 million and the rest of the world is declining slowly or reaches a population peak).

Basically, per the book, the organizations that estimate the global population in 2050 have to keep revising up their estimates. Over the last 20 years, as countries in Asia (like Vietnam and esp China) and Latin America have been developing, their fertility rates have declined quickly and significantly. Africa is developing more slowly and this decline is stalled - especially in 12 key countries (out of almost 60) that are highlighted.

The implications are potentially severe. With a median age of 17 or 18, the working age population may grow by 700 million (stats in the book) and currently these countries can't create legitimate jobs (other than in the thousands) so there will be millions and millions of working age unemployed people. The already challenged educational and healthcare infrastructures can't keep up in these countries as the fertility rates continue to be 5-6 children per female (due to a number of factors the book goes through in detail). Add to that the corrupt governments that siphon off the revenues from oil and other natural resources instead of investing back into the country.

Will there be a mass migration of the population to Europe? or massive starvation and even more widespread poverty or will technology save us? It's potentially a greater threat to overall humanity than climate change. This will likely get more press in the years to come.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Props to Ed Paice for writing a book on why African demographics matters that’s respected by African and global demographers. Masterfully researched, carefully considered, Youthquake makes a compelling case for why African demography matters. Filled with highly informative tables and richly documented (I read half the endnotes), this is not a beach read.

[Dana Schmidt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting data and compelling case for the importance of African demography, but there was more detail and history in here than necessary. Could probably have distilled this down to a long essay and gotten as much out of it.

[Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like this is getting quite a few unfair 3* reviews that criticise it for having too much data and not enough stories. I give it 5*s because it tells an interesting and full story of the history and present of African demography and back it all up with data.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

I dnf’ed on this. Colleague raves about it but I found it terribly boring with nothing new to say that I haven’t heard already.