Reaping the Benefits of Demographic Dividends in Sub-Saharan African Countries: When Are Their Windows of Opportunity and What Is Different Compared to Experiences Elsewhere?

Elke Loichinger, Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB)

An essential precondition for reaping the benefits of a demographic dividend is a decline in mortality and the subsequent decline in fertility. During this intermediate phase of the demographic transition, resources are freeing up that can be invested in economic development or family welfare. While the factors and circumstances that led selected Asian and Latin American countries to benefit from a change in their populations’ age-structure are well documented, the factors that are likely to allow African countries to benefit from the demographic transition are much less clear. The aim of the present study is twofold. First, to calculate the window of opportunity for each Sub-Saharan African country. Second, to present a compilation of enabling factors that are likely to be the same as in other countries that benefited from a demographic dividend, as well as those that are likely to play a particular role in the Sub-Saharan African context.