Blogs

Demography and Economic Emergence of Sub-Saharan Africa, a book by John F. May and Jean-Pierre Guengant, coll. Pocket Book Academy No. 134, Brussels: Académie royale de Belgique, 2020. 

Between 1970 and 2000, many Asian countries experienced a rapid and significant decline in fertility levels, accompanied by profound changes in their age structures. They then benefited from a demographic dividend, or economic surplus, as more working adults had fewer dependent young people. The resulting surplus also made it possible to improve the productivity of the economy. 

One of the major development issues being debated today is whether the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) will in turn be able to benefit from such a demographic dividend. This book analyzes the challenges that SSA countries will face in repeating the economic miracle of East and Southeast Asia and eventually becoming emerging economies as well.