Africa has the youngest population and will remain so for decades in a rapidly ageing world.

This was revealed at the ongoing African Regional Conference on Population and Development beyond 2014 that opened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

According to Abdalla Hamdok, deputy executive secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the African population median age is currently about 20 compared to a world average of 30.

“Africa’s youth present a potential resource and a great force for economic and political change. This has made accelerated economic growth through realising the benefits of the demographic dividend a strong possibility for many African nations, as the continent continues to strive to lower fertility and child mortality,” said Mr Hamdok.

The continent, he said, has been progressing steadily in the areas of economic and social development. Some of the fastest growing economies in the world are African.

In 2012, while global growth declined by 2.7 per cent, due to the economic crisis, Africa bucked the trend and grew at 5 per cent. Notably, all the sub-regions grew faster than the global average, with the highest rate being 6.3 per cent and the lowest one 3.5 per cent.

However Africa is experiencing mega demographic shifts with the number of people on the continent having increased from 703 million in 1994 to a projected 1.2 billion in 2014.

“These demographic changes are shaping Africa’s position in the global market for labour, trade and capital but persistent challenges remain and these must be tackled in a structural manner,” he noted.

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These challenges include increasing inequalities amongst population groups; the elderly, persons with disability, women, young people and children continue to be the most vulnerable and disadvantaged; various reviews note wide gaps that exist between population-related policies and their actual implementation in most African countries.

“Although countries have explicit population policies, the lack of comprehensive strategies and budget often make these policies difficult to fully implement,” said Mr Hamdok.

The continent is also faced with the challenge of wide disparities which still exist in access to sexual and reproductive health services, especially for young people.

“Closing the gender gap remains a major challenge, particularly in the areas of women’s economic empowerment and participation in politics and decision-making,” said Mr Hamdok.

“Fertility rates have remained relatively high on the continent, even as significant progress has been made decreasing the mortality rates.”

The five-day ICPD beyond 2014 conference is expected to discuss the challenges, gaps and emerging issues in relation to the achievement of the goals set out in its agenda with the aim of making recommendations that will accelerate progress towards the goals set out in the 1994 Programme of Action.

Key inputs to this process are the report on regional findings from the ICPD Global Survey, which was facilitated by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and completed by 52 countries in the region and the African Common Position on ICPD.