Africa is outpacing every other geography in population growth by a landslide. While birth rates are below replacement level in regions like Europe and North America, the number of people living on the African continent is set to double by 2060.

Source: Qz.com

More people means more mouths to feed, more shelter needed, and more lights to be kept on. Africa’s growing population will strain resources; this could spell disaster if productivity and economic output doesn’t keep up.

When it comes to food, Africa has sufficient arable land to meet growing demand in the coming decades. An exception is North Africa, which generally is too dry for agriculture at scale, and countries located there may have to import larger quantities of provisions to feed their increasing populations. Sub-Saharan Africa, however, has much uncultivated land which could be turned into food baskets capable of providing for the whole continent.

The opportunities for increasing agricultural output in Africa are significant. Researchers estimate that over half of the world’s potentially available uncultivated land is located in sub-Saharan Africa.

In spite of having an abundance of arable land, many African countries are not cultivating it. Currently, African nations taken collectively are a net importer of food. The lack of domestic food production is the result of causes which include a lack of political will to focus on agriculture and insufficient investment available to grow the sector.

Besides African governments not sufficiently developing the agricultural sector, another problem which could complicate feeding Africa’s growing population is soil degradation. Small scale farmers tend to lack the knowledge and tools necessary to properly manage soil health, resulting in ever greater swathes of lands becoming irreparably exhausted. Sub-Saharan Africa is the world’s most affected region, with an estimated 180 million people there suffering from the effects of land degradation.

Going forward, it will be important for African countries to invest in their agricultural sectors and make sure their uncultivated lands will be cultivated in sustainable ways. If this happens, all Africans can be fed.

Providing energy to a rapidly growing population is another challenge Africans will have to engineer solutions for. An analysis by McKinsey & Company estimates that African energy demand in 2040 could be around 30% higher than it is today, while much remains to be done to meet increasing demand, innovation in renewable energy production is a reason for optimism.

Source: IRENA

Since 2009, the cost of solar panels is down by roughly 80%. Bloomberg New Energy Finance forecasts that the price of solar produced energy will drop 60% by 2040. This is good news. Solar energy constitutes a major opportunity for Africa as the continent is home to 60% of the places with the longest sun hours globally.

If African governments can install solar panels at scale, the energy needs of the growing population can be met. For this transition to happen, however, significant investments in infrastructure and technology will have to be made, which may be challenging for African countries with limited financial resources.

Another reason Africa should transition to renewable energy is due to worrying projections for the continent’s oil and gas sectors. African oil and gas assets are on average 15 to 20% more costly to develop and operate, and 70 to 80% more carbon intensive than global oil and gas assets. In a world where investors are increasingly subject to climate regulations, Africa’s relatively polluting hydrocarbon sector will likely become less competitive in global markets.

Over half of African oil and gas producing countries rely on the proceeds of the hydrocarbons for more than 50% of their total export revenues. These nations would do well to decrease their reliance on the hydrocarbon sector. For some of these countries, developing the mining sector could help them manage their growing populations.

Many African countries are mineral-rich and economically benefit from exporting resources such as gold, coal, diamonds, and chrome. In recent years, increasing demand for elements used in the production of electronics such as cobalt and lithium has created new economic opportunities. While the reserves of these resources are limited, they can provide countries billions of dollars of profit in the decades to come.

In conclusion, Africa’s agriculture and energy sectors need to be developed if the continent is to manage its population growth. Doing this will help ensure that people’s core needs such as food and shelter are met. The proceeds from mining can help government’s finance the efforts necessary to develop sustainable agriculture and energy sectors.