English transcript

Africa, if you add up the 55 countries of the African Union, that's about 1.5 billion people,

same size as India, same size as China. The big difference is that the imperial powers

divided Africa into 55 little countries, not one of which can thrive on its own.

Whereas India and China, because of the history, remained unified countries.

Do you think this will change in the future?

They will unite?

They have to. So I tell them every single time I have the opportunity that the African Union

is the key. As 55, you can't make it. But as one African continental economy, you can make it.

So what's happening now is Africa's population is continuing to rise. It's the only place in

the world with rapid population growth.

And all the others are declining.

Everyone else has peaked or just about to peak or actually beginning a decline.

Africa's population today is 1.5 billion. By 2050, it'll be 2.5 billion. That's a lot,

adding a billion people in the next quarter century. If you go even farther and just try

to extrapolate based on current trends, Africa's population reaches about 3.5 billion,

and according to the UN most recent forecast, 3.7 billion by the end of the 21st century.

And Africa goes from being 9 percent of the world population to being more than 30 percent

of the world population. It's going to be a completely different world.

What do I say to African leaders every time I have the chance?

First, be Africa-wide. Second, get on quickly with mass education because that is the key

to the economic development. Third, look at what China did. Follow that model.