 |
UNICEF
says investing
in children will be paramount for Africa to realize the rights of its
burgeoning child population and reap a potential demographic dividend.
|
Almost 2 billion babies will be born
in Africa between 2015 and 2050 due to high fertility rates and increasing
number of women of reproductive age, a demographic study
on children in Africa states.
The study, published by the UN
Children Fund, UNICEF, on August 11, addresses issues of child population,
mortality, fertility and reproductive health, birth registration, life
expectancy, urbanization, fragility, education, drinking water and sanitation.
“Generation 2030 | Africa: Child
demographics in Africa”
report states
that four in ten of the world’s people will be African by the end of this
century.
It estimates that a billion children
will live in Africa by mid-century, but also unveils that the continent has the
highest child dependency ratio in the world.
Almost 47 per cent of Africans are children under
18, and a child dependency ratio of 73 children under age 15 per 100 persons of
working age in 2015, which is close to double the global average.
Meanwhile, Africa’s old-age dependency ratio,
defined as elderly person 65 years and older per 100 working-age persons, is
expected to increase slowly from a very low level of 6 in 2015 to 9 in 2050 and
climb to 22 in 2100. “These ratios will be far, far lower than anywhere else,”
UNICEF says.
The study indicates that child
survival has improved in Africa, but the continent still accounts for half of
all child deaths, and this figure is set to rise to around 70 per cent by 2050.
While life expectancy for Africa’s
children has risen sharply in recent decades, it is still shorter than the
global average, according to the report. It states that within 20 years, Africa will have its first
generation of children who can expect to reach pensionable age [of 65 years].
Today three in 10 of Africa’s
children are living in fragile and conflict-affected contexts, the UN's child
rights agency says.
According
to the World Bank, 20 out of 34 countries classified in 2014
as having fragile and conflict-affected contexts, are in Africa.
UNICEF
says investing
in children will be paramount for Africa to realize the rights of its
burgeoning child population and reap a potential demographic dividend.
It also recommended investment in girls
and women, especially in reproductive health, education, and preventing child
marriage as a key to Africa’s demographic transition.
National
development plans must take greater account of projected shifts in Africa’s
child population and support better data systems, the agency warns.
The projected rise in population also places Africa
as a continent with more population living in urban than in rural areas by late
2030s.
Africa’s urban children are increasingly likely to
grow up in the continent’s rapidly expanding megacities with 10 million or more
inhabitants, “Generation 2030 | Africa: Child
demographics in Africa”
projects.
It cited Lagos, Africa's second biggest urban
agglomeration, will see its population swell by 1.8 times over the next 15
years from 13 million in 2015 to 24 million in 2030, while the populace of
Al-Qahirah (Cairo), currently in first place, will expand from 19 million to 25
million over the same period.
Written by Modou S. Joof
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