ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines some of the basic features of Africa's population growth, and analyzes the demographic experiences of the countries of Africa through the perspective of a number of approaches to population theorizing. It examines why it has been particularly difficult to lower fertility rates in many African countries. Possible population policy options are then explored and the current approaches to population policy in a number of African countries are then reviewed. A number of types of theorizing have emerged over the years to explain the character of population change. The theories that provide insight into the experience of African countries are presented, namely, the Malthusian theory, the theory of the "Demographic Transition" and some so-called "microeconomic theorizing." Over the demographic transition, the population pyramid changes shape, the cohorts of the main demographic groupings change and the dependency ratio changes.
