Africa’s P — Population
Is Africa’s economy strained by its fast-growing population?
February 23, 2005
At 17 per 1,000, Africa’s death rate is the highest in the world (the next-highest is 11 per 1,000 in the former communist countries of Europe and Central Asia).
Worse, there was a strong upswing in death rates after 1997, reflecting the dreadful ravages of AIDS.
There is not yet a "demographic revolution” in which family size starts to decline — as other parts of the world have experienced.
That is likely the result of Africa's lack of development. For very poor people, large families are a method of social security.