Very interesting discussion all round
He's stating the biggest cultural impact of the 21st century won't be wokeism, LGBT, extremism etc, but it'll be the population boom in Africa. Africa's population around 1914 numbered 124 million people, or little more than 7 percent of the world's population, currently it has 1.4 billion people and will likely reach 2.5 billion inhabitants by 2050. That means, at midcentury, Africa will likely account for just shy of 25 percent of the global population, more than three times its share in 1914. In the 2040s alone, it is likely that an order of 566 million children will be born in Africa. Around the midcentury, African births will outnumber those in Asia, and Africans will constitute the largest population of people of prime working age anywhere in the world.
A large continent with a large population doesn't have to be rich, its sheer weight will put it in a position of power. China during the boxer rebellion wasn't rich or strong. But its sheer population meant it was in a class of it's own. When Nigeria has a population of over 400 million in 2050 its fortunes matter on a global scale. That population is not confined to the countryside but is increasingly urbanized. Even at low levels of per capita income and formal education, it is to a considerable degree networked and in contact with the wider world, unlike in the 70s. The potential for conflict, but also innovation and growth is enormous. Same applies to Somalia/Kenya/Ethiopia
