A demographic window of opportunity in Africa - and the role of migration

Africans are among the most mobile people on earth, and the size, age and gender structure of the African populations is the combined result of fertility, mortality and migration. Migration in Africa - whether related to labour mobility, urbanisation, climate change, conflict or other reasons ­- cannot be ignored given its important impact on population dynamics.

The ‘demographic dividend’ describes the opportunity that a growing workforce represents for growth. A dividend must be earned, and this happens mainly through socio-political initiatives.

While economists predict the ‘end of the demographic dividend’ in East Asia, the growing African population and the increasing numbers of African youth forecast for the next decade offer a possibility of reducing dependency ratios in Africa.

A change in the population structure that leads to a growing workforce can be important for economic growth, if combined with effective policies and markets. However, few analyses of demographic dividend have addressed the crucial role of migration in population dynamics in Africa.

This policy brief outlines the importance of active policies for labour market mobility to increase regional integration and facilitate the pooling of skills and thereby improve the match between labour market demands and supply, in order to reap the demographic dividend.