In many countries, the young are more optimistic than the old - perhaps because the parents did not end up as successful as they had hoped to be.
Ethiopian boys. (Photo/Nazareth College).
AFRICAN currencies are being hammered, and commodity-dependent economies on the continent are hurting as prices slump, but the majority of Africans believe that children growing up today will be better off financially than their parents, though it’s a slim majority, at 54%.
The most optimistic are Ethiopia and Nigeria, who express an overwhelming positive sentiment about the financial prospects of the next generation, out of nine African countries surveyed by Pew Research Global.
The survey reports that 84% of respondents from Ethiopia say that the next generation has better prospects than the current one.
It’s a reflection of the positive vibes recent economic growth has created in the country, which grew by 10.3% in 2014 – one of the fastest in the world.
Similarly, 84% of Nigerians expect a brighter future for the next generation; despite a recent dip in oil revenues and a steep currency slide, they still believe in their country’s long-term prospects – possibly due to the warm glow that Muhammadu Buhari’s recent electoral victory and the subsequent peaceful transition created. Just 11% say today’s children will have it worse.
Burkina Faso is third, with 71% upbeat about a brighter future, and Senegal fourth, at 64%.
The future is particularly important for Africa because in the next 35 years, the continent is expected to claim three of the world’s 10 most populous countries, according to projections released Tuesday by the Population Reference Bureau in Washington.
The largest of those, Nigeria, will be just 1 million people shy of the U.S.‘s size, with Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Ethiopia entering the top 10 list.
They replace Russia and Mexico, with the former’s exit leaving Europe with no country on the top 10 list.
Hopeful cases gone sour
While the U.S. and other developed countries struggle to adapt their labour forces to an aging population, African countries are experiencing a baby boom. Niger, South Sudan, DRC, Somalia and Chad have the highest fertility rates in the world.
“The population gains are also due to a decline in mortality rates due to improvements in public health,” said Peter Goldstein, vice president with the PRB, who oversaw production of its 2015 World Population Data Sheet. “Africa is going to be a key driver in population growth over the next few decades.”
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