AFRICAN Institute for Development Policy director Eliya Zulu says the continent should make adequate preparations to manage a population explosion likely to be experienced from 2070.
Zulu made the remarks during the 20th international inter-ministerial conference on south-south and triangular co-operation in population and development held in Victoria Falls.
“The population is going to grow rapidly, the urgency to address this must be more critical now, by 2070 there will be more than 10 billion people in the world, most of this growth is going to be generated in Africa,” Zulu said.
“When we talk about demographic dividends we say will Africa be ready to take advantage of its demographic dynamics as a driving force to its future. Are there any structural changes of having more children than having more adults?”
University of Zimbabwe lecturer in the department of demography, settlement and development Marvellous Mhloyi said population growth rates in southern African countries had been static.
Africa’s current population according to United Nations estimates stands at 1,5 billion, which is 17,89% of the world population.
