Abstract:
Development efforts in several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are harmed by a combination of
many factors, high rates of population growth being among of them. Despite the strong links between
population and sustainable development, these issues were not a priority in broader development policies and strategies in SSA. Population and sustainable development had been often addressed separately
at policy and programme levels. Despite the fact that decision makers in these countries recognize the
importance of population issues for sustainable development, these issues are rarely worked on together,
limiting the payoff that could result from integrating the two. This chapter, therefore, re-examines and
relates these two concepts to see their compatibility and provides a more realistic approach in converting
population growth into economic gains for future development of SSA countries and Africa in general.
