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| Seum O. E. William in a crucial session |
How do we harness the demographic
dividends through the youth? This issue has never been more fundamental to the
development of Africa than it is today.
For several decades, African countries
have initiated and executed a variety of ‘development’ plans and projects. But
often lacking in these is how best to harness the potential of the young
population for the continent's transformation.
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| With the Oni of Ife |
Thus, strategic investment that will
harness the prospects of the youth population can no longer be left unattended.
“African governments must know that
efforts to create a demographic dividend are likely to fail as long as vast
portions of young females are denied their rights, including their right to
education, health and civil participation, and their reproductive rights”
The
groundswell for change
The continent is undergoing very important
change in demography, which comes along with immense economic opportunities. At
present, there are over 251 million adolescents aged 10 -19 years in the
African continent compared with 1.2 billion globally, which mean that about 1
in 5 adolescents in the planet live in Africa.
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| With youths from all over Africa |
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| Brain Storming |
The population of Africa’s working age is
growing leading to increase in Africa's productive potential. If current
fertility rates continue and mortality declines rapidly, the high child
dependency burden that is experienced presently will reduce drastically. The
result of such huge change is an opportunity for the employed and active youth
to invest more. With a decline in death rates, the working age population
in the continent will increase from about 55% of the population in 2015 to a
peak of about 64 percent in 2090.
This increase in working age population
will further create lots of window of opportunities that, if properly managed,
should translate into high economic growth for Africa, which will yield a
demographic dividend or economic growth that is spurred by change in the age
structure of the African population.
To reap the demographic dividend requires
serious investments in health including reproductive and sexual health and
family planning, job creation, skill development and education, which would
yield increasing per capita income.
Furthermore, due to low ratio on
dependency, families and individuals will be able to make significant savings,
which in turn translates into investment and a boost in economic growth. The
East Asian countries (Asian Tigers) used this model during 1965 and 1990 to capitalize
on their demographic window.
The
impact of the proposed demographic transition on economic growth is simply a
fact and not questionable.
But
achieving this transformation requires that appropriate strategies, policies,
projects and programs are put in place to ensure that demographic dividend can
be gained from the youth bulge.
'Seun O.E William
'Son of a washer-man'
President - ECOWAS Youth Council
'Son of a washer-man'
President - ECOWAS Youth Council
PROFILE OF SEUN
OLOGUN WILLIAM PRESIDENT, ECOWAS YOUTH COUNCIL.
Ambassador Seun Ologun William, Nigerian, is a
Pan-Africanist, a veteran Pan-African youth leader and activist that believes
that Youth should be change agents, with so much passion and commitment geared
towards youth work. He got his first degree education from the Federal
University of Technology in Nigeria and is currently furthering his studies to
build his capacity.
Seun believes that research knowledge can drive the change
that must happen in order for him to realize his personal vision - to see a world
in which poverty is on the low, social justice prevails and sustainable
economic growth is focused on improving human well being.
He has volunteered
for many leadership positions in youth organizations including interim
President of the West African Students Union, where he worked more on strategic
governance in West Africa. He currently holds many youth leadership positions
where he is working on promoting youth inclusion and empowerment, peace and
security building, cultural awareness and Youth participation in politics and
governance.
Some of the positions he holds currently include; President of the
ECOWAS Youth Council (EYC); Chairman of the Ondo State Concerned Youth Advisory
Board in Nigeria; "United Declaration of Human Rights" and "The
World We Want" Youth Ambassador; Country Rep for International Youth
Council and African Union Chapter; as well as a Consultant on Strategic
governance. He is also a prominent member of African Youth Commission and
Commonwealth Youth Council. Seun believes through his knowledge and experience
from attending many international youth conferences and meetings that
international partnership and engagement - working in solidarity can be a major
boost to the collective efforts in overcoming poverty and development feuds which
are part of his personal vision for West Africa, Africa and the World at large.
I refused to agree to the basis of these aforementioned claims because :
ReplyDelete1. Average TFR in this continent is 4.32 per woman. With this figure if we experience mortality decline, in the short run, it could lead to high dependency ratio simply because very large portion of the population will fall between age 0-14.
This indicates a serious problem particularly in this part of the globe where the mainstay of the economy is practically "agrarian".
2. African labour force is already faced with unemployment and underemployment issues, if we are to enjoy demographic dividend, then our focus should be on creating a sustainable development otherwise the present case will get worsen.
3. Instead of preaching economic growth, i suggest we preach economic development because it is growth if per capita income increases but not equally distrubuted; but development shows an increase in per capita income and how wealth is being distributed across the population.
Thanks.
Oyebamiji M. Olawale
Olawaleabiola772@gmail.com