Measuring Consensus in the Perception of National Efforts to Harness a Demographic Dividend among Local Experts in Six Sub-Saharan African Countries

Carolina Cardona, Johns Hopkins University
Steffany Vucetich, Johns Hopkins University
Jean Christophe Rusatira, Johns Hopkins University
J.M. Ian Salas, Johns Hopkins University
Oying Rimon, Johns Hopkins University
Saifuddin Ahmed, Johns Hopkins University

The African region will double its population by 2050, and more than half will be below age 25. Under favorable policy conditions, these countries have a unique opportunity to boost their economy by harnessing the benefits of a demographic dividend. This study aims to assess whether higher consensus among local experts who scored the level of efforts being placed to set a favorable policy environment to harness the benefits of a demographic dividend was translated into higher effort scores in six Sub-Saharan African countries. The analysis was done across six sectors. We identified the following typology: i) significant positive correlation, significant negative correlation, and non-significant correlation. Tanzania, Senegal, and Rwanda had a significant positive correlation in the family planning and women’s empowerment sectors. These findings can aid countries’ planning and evaluation purposes. We hypothesize that the strength of institutions is behind this typology and intend to explore it further.