Africa’s population will double by 2050

BY 2050, NIGERIA is forecast to have 400m people, meaning it will overtake the United States as the world’s third-most-populous country. The starkness of this fact (its population is currently about 200m) illustrates the degree to which demography will shape Africa’s future. Nigeria’s growth is part of an extraordinary population surge across the continent, but there is controversy about whether it will continue or can be reined in. The answer to that question has serious economic and political implications.