Africa’s population is expected to double by 2050 – to two and a half billion people.On a continent where nearly two thirds of the population are already under 25, this vast new baby boom could do one of two things.
It will either provide a huge workforce to transform African economies and lift millions out of poverty, or it will create an even bigger migration problem, and lead many more young people into the hands of radical extremists.
In a series of special reports, the BBC’s Africa Correspondent Alastair Leithead reports from Kenya and Niger, Ethiopia and Nigeria – which set to become the world’s third most populated country in the next 30 years, and where many rural people are now moving into towns.
Long Read
The city that
won’t stop growing
How can Lagos cope with its spiralling population?
How Africa's population boom is changing our world
Africa’s population is expected to double by 2050, reaching 2.5 billion people.
See how the world’s highest birth rates and rapid urbanisation mean that Africa is shaping the future of our world
TV Documentary
Radio
Counting Babies in Niger
Nigeria
Lagos: The megacity set to triple by 2050
Africa’s population is expected to double by 2050, reaching 2.5 billion people.
On a continent where nearly two-thirds of the population are already under 25, this vast new baby boom could do one of two things – either provide a huge workforce to transform African economies and lift millions out of poverty, or create an even bigger migration problem, and lead many more young people into the hands of radical extremists.
The BBC is reporting this week from Kenya, Niger, Ethiopia and Nigeria – which is set to become the world’s third most populous country in the next 30 years, and where many rural people are now moving into urban areas, especially the commercial capital, Lagos.
Ethiopia
Can Ethiopia create enough jobs for its growing population?
Ethiopia is undergoing an industrial revolution as more jobs are being created for the country’s growing population.
But are manufacturing and education the answer?
Niger
How Niger is trying to slow the world’s highest birth rate
Women in Niger have an average of more than seven children each – the highest birth rate in the world.
A “husband school” is one way of trying to reduce this.
Kenya
Can these super-crops feed Africa?
Africa’s population is set to boom over the next few decades – reaching 2.5 billion people by 2050.
Scientists in Kenya are trying to find ways of growing enough food for everyone.
The African Orphan Crops Consortium has identified 101 traditional plants ripe for improvement and is using a DNA sequencing machine to speed up traditional cross-breeding.
It makes the plants more fruitful, drought resistance and disease tolerant.