Youth Bulge in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Theoretical Discourse on the Potential of Demographic Dividend vs. Demographic Bomb

With the continued globalization of economies and culture, more development theorists have begun to shift their attention to a generational phenomenon called the youth bulge. This phenomenon has led to literature by political scientists, sociologists, and security theorists who study potential conflict or development for which a youth bulge may ultimately be a catalyst. Traditionally, the majority of youth bulge research has focused on the regions of North Africa and the Middle East. This theoretical discourse focuses on six Sub-Saharan African states that have a present youth bulge and attempts to provide development discussions on three of them. The analysis aims to forecast whether Nigeria, Burundi, and Sudan have a tendency to move towards a demographic dividend or demographic bomb in the future. Content analysis from the lenses of modernization, dependency, and world-systems theory are used while considering the measures of GDP per capita, unemployment of youth, fertility rates, and political stability/ absence of violence