Soon, with the demographic trend in Europe, immigration will be demand-driven, according to Tanzania’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation January Makamba
Speaking at the Nordic-African Foreign Ministers meeting in Copenhagen, the minister said that African jobs will be the ‘next defining challenge of our era’, a projection he used to urge Europe to tackle immigration as a security and development issue that considers their realities of a shrinking population.
“African jobs is actually not an African problem, it’s a challenge for all of us given the demographics.Jobs in Africa is a security issue for Europe, a development policy, an immigration policy, ”he noted
He spoke during a session whose theme was ‘demographics as one of the key dimensions and mega trends for this century.’
Mr Makamba recalled a headline that previously appeared in New York Times, stating, ‘The world is becoming more African’, noting that it went on to describe the demographic trend, showing that by the end of this century, 2 out of 5 people will be African.
He said this whilst illustrating that the African population is exploding, which could be a future opportunity for Europe to take advantage of since both Western and Eastern Europe currently face a shrinking population.
In a video posted on his X account(formerly known as Twitter), other main highlights from his presentation were:
- “The median age for Africans is 19, while that of Danes (forexample) is 42.”
- “This meeting’s outcome should be thought leadership on how to intergrate African jobs into immigration policy and development policy.It has to be intergrated. If we fail to find a solution in the near term, atleast we should organize ourselves to deliver advocacy on the supremacy of this matter.”
- “We need to develop vocational education”
- “In the future,Nordic countries probably will have no option but to ask young Africans to come more here. If you look at the fertility levels, your population is shrinking and the African population is exploding.The same is the case for Eastern Europe, so you cant stop young Africans from coming here.”
- “There will be scramble for immigrants in the future. Your best bate is to ensure they are educated for development of where they are but also to come and serve economies here.”
The meeting took place on May 2, 2024 in Copenhagen, Denmark, and included discussions on women’s issues, xenophobia, and youth affairs.
The agenda also included peace and security, multilateral cooperation, reform of multilateral institutions and increasing trade and investment.
Speaking prior to the meeting, Sweden’s Foreign Minister Foreign Minister of Sweden, Tobias Billstrom had said that at a time when multilateralism is being challenged on a broad front, the partnership between the Nordic countries and Africa is more important than ever.
Representatives from around 30 African countries and the Nordic foreign ministers attended the meeting.
The Nordic-African Foreign Ministers Meeting is a forum for high-level political dialogue between the Nordic region and Africa.
Since it was initiated by Sweden in 2001, the meetings have developed into an annual format, hosted alternately by Nordic and African countries. In recent years, it has become an increasingly important platform for developing the partnership between the Nordic countries and Africa.