TANZANIA
Baby Boom
Tanzanian President John Magufuli urged the women of his country to bear more children in a bid to usher in a demographic dividend like the one promised China, India and Nigeria – though critics say such a baby boom would only worsen poverty and inequality.
“When you have a big population you build the economy. That’s why China’s economy is so huge,” Magufuli said, according to Reuters. “I know that those who like to block ovaries will complain about my remarks. Set your ovaries free, let them block theirs.”
With a population of 55 million people, Tanzania already has one of the highest birth rates in Africa, at around five children per woman, and by all accounts, its economy is already booming. Thanks in part to the president’s industrialization campaign, growth has averaged between 6 and 7 percent in recent years, the agency noted.
At the same time, however, schools and hospitals are already overburdened, and the absolute number of people surviving on less than $1 a day has remained static even as the poverty rate declined, thanks to the rising population.
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