Contributions to the study of Africa's Dividend

Background:

The Network on Strengthening Demographic Training in Francophone Africa (FraNet) was set up in 2009 thanks to a grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Its main objectives were to:

Enhance the capacity of researchers and institutions in the region to conduct rigorous and policy-relevant research in population;
Improve the productivity of researchers and the quality of research;
Strengthen links with the policy world;
Increase public visibility of population issues.

During the first years, the network focused mainly on training researchers based at the IFORD (Cameroon) and ISSP (Burkina Faso) to use advanced demographic methods and then, by turning a small subset of the trainees into assistant facilitators, developed capacity to teach these methods locally. In recent years the network organized several international workshops and conferences on policy communication and on the Demographic Dividend. In addition, the network facilitated collaboration to produce methodological and substantive volumes on Africa’s Demographic Dividend.

Publications (available for download in pdf):

The network received one final grant to finalize these publications on its substantive and methodological contributions to research on the demographic dividend, especially in sub-Saharan African Africa. Substantively, the network finalized the publication of estimates of the dividend (in terms of GDP per capita) for individual countries of Africa for the 1990-2010 period. Methodologically, the network produced a significantly expanded manual describing and integrating a variety of decomposition approaches that exist in the literature, and their application to the study of dividends. This approach can complement other major approaches to study dividends because it is less data hungry and because it can apply to a relatively broad set of development outcomes.

Le Dividende Démographique en Afrique. Premiers signes et estimation par la méthode de décomposition.
By the Francophone African Network (FraNet), coordinated by Michel Tenikue, Yao Silvère Konan, Charles Emmanuel Mouté Nyokon and Degnon Dossou Firmin Zinvi.
IUSSP, 2018

Comprendre le changement Social. Apport des méthodes de décomposition et application à l’étude du Dividende Démographique.
Parfait M. Eloundou-Enyegue, Sarah C. Giroux and Michel Tenikue.
IUSSP, 2018

Understanding Social Change. A Decomposition Approach. (English version of the volume above).
Parfait M. Eloundou-Enyegue, Sarah C. Giroux and Michel Tenikue.
IUSSP, 2018

Forthcoming publications:

50 questions sur le dividende démographique
by the Francophone African Network (FraNet), coordinated by Parfait M. Eloundou-Enyegue.

Le dividende démographique relatif à l’éducation.
by the Francophone African Network (FraNet), coordinated by Jean Francois Kobiane, Charles Emmanuel Mouté Nyokon and Degnon Dossou Firmin Zinvi.

The activities under this project have built both capacity and networks. Individual participants have gained expertise in applying decomposition methods to the study of dividends. Through meetings, conferences, and publications, they also built contacts and collaborations with journalists and policy makers across the region. These new collaborations will certainly continue beyond this project. The network still hopes to establish an exchange forum and a platform for continued collaboration to help to maintain the synergy.

For more information on FraNet's accomplishments since 2010 see: FraNet's web page.

Funding: The IUSSP Network for Strengthening the Demographic Training in Francophone Africa is supported by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.