02-03 North Africa - John Bulloch

It was educational to meet leaders of Mali, Niger, Benin and Chad at a world conference in Ottawa in 1981. They had all been sponsored by the Government of Canada and were fluent in both French and English. What they had in common were societies living in poverty and with exploding populations.

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A serious examination of the attached map of North Africa will show nations in poverty, and all with rapidly increasing populations.
At the 8th International Small Business Congress held in Ottawa, we had delegates from over 60 nations in attendance. And of special interest were representatives from developing nations that received various forms of economic support from the Government of Canada. And because French was one of the official languages we had a lot of delegates from nations that were formerly part of the French empire. Members of what is called the “Francophonie”
I had the pleasure of meeting delegates from Mali, Niger, Benin and Chad. Although their nations official language was French, they all spoke a tribal language. Their excellent English was a product of their university educations.
One thing these delegates taught me. That they were part of a privileged, educated class living in societies dominated by simple, uneducated people. But people with powerful language and cultural roots.
Every nation in North Africa was dealing with a rapidly growing population. The biggest problem they faced with such an explosion of kids moving into the school system was properly trained teachers.
There is Niger today with a population of 22.8 million whose women on average are having 6.95 children. And the small nation of Benin with a population of 12.9 million with women having 5.22 children on average. These are the kinds of numbers to expect all through North Africa.
The photo of the lake city of Ganvie in Benin is interesting. 20,000 people living on homes built on stilts, and feeding themselves by fish farming. A sophisticated society.
What is so quirky about understanding global shifts in population is the very different numbers you get in developing nations compared to developed nations. In North Africa you have high birth rates and high death rates and emigration of people of education. It is the opposite for nations in Europe or the USA. Low birth rates, low death rates and high levels of educated immigrants.