The Socio-economic and Political impacts of Youth Bulge: the Case of Sudan

Despite the high consideration given to the youth issues in the national population policies, including building their capacity and absorbing them in the labor market, few studies have analyzed the economic and political impacts of youth bulge in Sudan. Those under the age of 25 and the young people aged 15- 24 represent 60% and 20% of the total population respectively. As the result of the transition of the huge masses of age group 0-15 over decades and the prevailing total fertility rate of 3.9, population will continue to grow and more youth bulges will be experienced. Countries with large numbers of working age youth can achieve demographic dividends, given that the youth are well educated and employed, otherwise may suffer political instability and conflicts. This paper, using quantitative data, analyzes the impact of youth bulge on economic growth and the on going armed conflicts in Sudan as well as the opportunities and threats associated with it. The experience of other countries with youth bulges such as the Arab spring will also be considered. Understanding the role of the youth bulge enables policy makers to formulate evidence-based policies conducive to mitigate the negative impacts of demographics. The prevailing unemployment among highly educated youth, besides health and educational problems support the hypothesis