Keep pulling the thread on Joe Studwell.
Since 2000, agricultural growth in Africa as a whole has averaged over 4% per year, the highest rate in the world.
According to UN projections, Africa's population is expected to reach 4 billion people by the end of the 21st century, equal to the projected population of Asia.
An estimated half of all capital expenditure in manufacturing in Africa is currently directed towards agricultural processing.
Based on the Financial Times' FTI database, Chinese firms invested over $12 billion into manufacturing in Africa last year.
Chinese banks have lent over $150 billion to African nations.
At a political level, China's Belt and Road Initiative has been significantly scaled back, although without a formal announcement.
Joe Studwell believes the biggest unknown for Africa's future is the extent to which its governments will improve in response to denser populations, economic growth, and a greater capacity to raise taxes.
Joe Studwell believes that demographic factors have a more powerful potential for explaining Africa's developmental failures than issues like corruption or conflict.
At the end of World War II, Africa's population was 220 million people, with an average population density of less than 10 people per square kilometer.
The population density of Africa in 1960 was historically equivalent to that of Europe in the year 1500.
Nigeria's agricultural sector has been growing at a rate of 6% per year since 2000, driven by population density rather than government policy.
In Africa, agricultural output by value is growing at over 4% annually, outpacing population growth of less than 3% annually.