| Popis: |
We assess Africa’s prospects for enjoying a demographic dividend. While fertility rates anddependency ratios in Africa remain high, they have started to decline. According to UnitedNations projections, they will fall further in the coming decades such that by the mid-21st centurythe ratio of the working-age to dependent population will be greater than in Asia, Europe, andNorthern America. This projection suggests Africa has considerable potential to enjoy ademographic dividend. Whether and when it actually materializes, and also its magnitude,hinges on policies and institutions in key realms that include macroeconomic management,human capital, trade, governance, and labour and capital markets. Given strongcomplementarities among these areas, coordinated policies will likely be most effective ingenerating the momentum needed to pull Africa’s economies out of a development trap. |
