Abstract

Demographic growth has in recent years been one of the determining characteristics of African development, and if projections are correct, the continent is set to become a population superpower. Its proportion of the world population, especially relative to the “old continent”, is increasing in a historically unprecedented manner, and its inhabitants are younger than ever. Although it is still difficult to assess whether this trend should be regarded as an opportunity or as a potential risk factor, it is already possible to discern the first definitive signs of how this evolving new distribution of demographic power is shifting Africa’s geopolitical and economic position in today’s polycentric world.