Exploring Africa's fertility transition and prospects for demographic dividends: case study of Nigeria

Samuel Igbatayo, Afe Babalola University

Africa is the second most populous Continent on earth, with an estimated population of 1.033 billion people. Indications are that the fertility decline observed on the continent since the mid-1980s has stalled significantly in Sub-Saharan Africa in the 1990s and early 2000s, a trend blamed on lack of education and poor family planning. Of twenty-two countries involved in a recent study, ten revealed a fertility decline; twelve others were undergoing a fertility stall, with half of them actually recording a small increase. The paper has adopted Nigeria, Africa’s most populated country, as a case study. The nation is acknowledged with a demographic decline on the second of the 4-stage demographic transition model. Nigeria, like several other countries with fertility decline on the continent, can reap the benefits associated with demographic dividends, with the right levels of investment in health and education, while creating opportunities for the continent’s youthful population.