9 November 2009
editorial
Kampala — Bishop Zac Niringiye has warned of a looming crisis in Uganda if the population growth rate is not drastically reduced.
Bishop Niringiye, who is the chairperson of the Uganda African Peer Review mechanism, expressed concern that 75% of Ugandans are below 25 years, saying this explains the high dependency and unemployment rates.
The bishop raised a pertinent concern. Uganda's population growth is the third highest in the world. It doubled in the last 20 years. If the trend continues, there will be 60 million Ugandans by the year 2030.
It is a false notion to think that a large domestic market will ensure economic prosperity, Niringiye argued. "If this was the case, countries in Africa with large populations would be rich today, but many are among the least developed."
Indeed, one only has to look at the UN human development report to find that there is no correlation between big populations and high economic or human development.
Norway tops the list in human development, yet is has only 4.7 million people. It is followed by Australia with 21 million people and Iceland with 300,000 people.
In terms of GDP per capita, countries with small populations top the list. Liechtenstein, a country in Europe with only 35,000 people, has the world's highest income per person per year - or $85,382.
It is followed by Luxembourg, which has only 500,000 people, and Qatar with only 1.1 million people. Indeed, of the eight countries with the highest per capita income in the world, all have populations below five million.
Industrialisation and expanding the regional markets provide the answers to economic development and job creation, not rapid population growth.
Even in terms of security, a country does not need to have a large population to defend itself against external enemies. A professional, modern and sophisticated army with good intelligence gathering capacity is more important than a large army.
Uganda needs to come out with a clear policy on education. This should include girl child education, women empowerment and a change in traditional attitudes towards gender and childbearing.
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