10. Population pressure

The population of Africa is about half a billion. Yet Africa is said to be facing a persistent demographic problem which is blamed for many of the problems on the continent, The three issues of population, agriculture and environmental degradation are reported to be feeding on each other. But as some of our observations seem to indicate there are other factors whose impact on the people of Africa is more devastating than the population pressure. These factors, identified here as the bottle-necks of development should be the ones blamed for the economic under-development and poverty in Africa, long before the numbers are a concern. The fact that 75% of the world's resources are for example, consumed by industrial countries with only 20% of the world population is far greater reason for the impoverishment of many in the world than the mere numbers. A depopulated Africa would still be poor and marginalized.