Overpopulation in Africa: The Importance of Education and Economics

Ruth Ginsburg said “women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception”. Females have always been seen as people who belong in the kitchen and taking care of the home and their family, yet it is time that they are considered in part of conversations and involved to find solutions that could help the world. 

Africa is a continent that is rich in traditional customs and it is still developing. Hence female empowerment is something that should be incorporated in communities and spaces which have influenced such as the government, in order to make females be part of the minds that will bring solutions to communities and the countries they reside in. Overpopulation is one of many issues that Africa is faced with and in order for it to be resolved, open communication and education are things that should be incorporated more in Africa. Information should be presented more to the females in order for them to understand that their choices and lack of knowledge are leading to overpopulation. We live in an age where we should be talking freely about sex and not pretend that no one engages in it especially amongst young females as that brings the gap that we face today of females having unplanned pregnancies. If sex and education is something that is spoken about freely, many females would be able to understand that it's okay to take care of yourself and have better plans with your life. Rather than making children and increasing the population. Education also opens up a world of opportunity – economic, social, civic, political and artistic. 

Opportunities are great in order for females to understand that there is more to being educated then getting that job, it also contributes to combating with issues that their countries are facing like overpopulation and unemployment. Empowering females will give them confidence in knowing that they can be part of solutions and being responsible. Therefore, empowering females through education will not only yield results of lowering overpopulation, but it also equips them to be able to lead, contribute to the economy and political stability. As people, we know that there is always a solution to every single problem we face. We are consistently thinking of solutions that would help us to get to better a place than before. Leaving a place of birth due to voluntary or forced migration is something that causes people to find the most ideal solution that would keep them safe and get better opportunities. 

Development is something that is necessary that should happen for every country, yet we are consistently faced with the issue of migration whether it is done legally (which happens rarely) or illegally. Which lead to people seeking asylum in other developing countries that may be near or far. More than 65 million people around the world have had to flee their homes due to war, persecution, violence and human rights violence. Global inequalities lead to the disputes of people being displaced or they end up being refugees. Which forces them to take risks that are not favorable most of the time because they have to save themselves from any danger of being separated from their loved ones. 

Refugees and displaced people may be finding a solution by moving to other countries, yet they migrating not only leads to them having to risk moving or traveling at extensive and most dangerous situations. They end up putting a strain on the public services and infrastructure in the country’s they are residing in. This not only causes a problem to the citizens in that country but to them as well. Africa is still developing, voluntary and forced migration is causing that services such as health, land and the economy to be affected as the high population of displaced people should be accommodated with the citizens of that country. When we look at the employment, there will be a lot of unskilled workers and wages will be minimum which will cause a problem to the citizens as they will feel that they are not being considered due to the new competition. Forced migrants tend to arrive in places where there are few job opportunities for them. With employment being an issue in most developing countries migrants will add more to the frustration of citizens. This will lead to xenophobic attacks and strikes as citizens will feel threatened. Although people do not choose to be migrants, they cause strain to the country’s that they will reside in. which leads to issues of hate amongst people.

Although we may assume that, the more the people in a country will contribute positively to the economy of the country. That is not always the case. As some population growth potential may have a negative effect on the economy and the country. Developing countries will have to get financial aid in order to sustain, maintain and provide for the citizens, which would mean that it will be difficult to pay back the money. Because overpopulation will lead to fewer employment opportunities. Kenya’s population growth and economic growth fluctuates during the years of 196 to 2009, due to policies the government introduced to reduce overpopulation, which was not successful due to the demography within the rural and urban places. Education would lead to the citizens to understand their role in combating population growth, mortality, and fertility of the country. The slow-swan economic growth model shows the continuous links with the output and input of the finances and the population work together. The lower the population growth will influence a higher rise in the economy. The Granger causality test reveals that Kenya has a bi-directional causality between its population growth and economic growth, which shows that they work on each other to have an effect on each other. 

The impact of population growth on economic growth, confirms that they vary amongst countries if they have their policies working for them. Such as educating females in order to reduce mortality and fertility. Variance decomposition analysis observes that in Kenya economic feedback effects with the population growth and the effects operate in more than one direction due to the fact that in the eighth-year economic variations were dependent on population growth. 

Education can lead to a positive outcome that will lead to technological advances, empowered females, skills being developed and less mortality and fertility. Education should be presented in a way that would benefit the needs of the economy and the country. Policy recommendations should be implemented with honesty and the plans should be actioned to effectively as this will lead to sustainable development, which is important for the economy and the population. Kenya is a great example to a lot of Sub-Saharan African countries that controlled population will result in economic growth if controlled properly.