Aljazeera cited a United Nation Population division report saying that there will be at least four African’s for every ten person on earth by the end of the 21st century as the continent witnesses one of the biggest population boom the world has ever see. While most developed countries populations are poised to shrink in coming decades, Africa’s will be expanding by a factor of 5.18 – significantly faster than Asia at 3.7.

While every other continent will see slower rise in births, or even a decline, UNICEF projects that 1.8 billion babies will be born in Africa over the next 35 years, and the total African population will nearly quadruple to about 4.2 billion by the end of the century.

Africa could reap a massive demographic dividend from its bigger labour force and relatively fewer dependents, the UN report said. The population boom could “transform the continent, breaking centuries-old cycles of poverty and inequality.”

“Unless investment in the continent’s children is prioritized, the sheer burden of population expansion has the potential to undermine attempts to eradicate poverty through economic growth, and worse, could result in rising poverty and marginalization of many if growth were to falter.”