EPFO APFC 2025 • General Ability Test • Q.1

Africa is on the move. At least 20 million (i) _____ live outside the continent, a three-fold increase since 1990. Europe accounts for about half of African (ii) _____ outside Africa, but its share has steadily declined since 1990. America, China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have all seen surges in their African-born populations. It may seem otherworldly to predict that this will continue, given the fierce backlash against (iii) _____ across the West. Notwithstanding pushback, African (iv) _____ is an unstoppable force that will long outlast today's populists and help define the 21st century. Demography is one cause. It is well-known that in the developed world the number of people of working age will decline, exacerbating labour shortages. What is less widely appreciated is that emerging countries that are associated with exporting people, such as Mexico and the Philippines, are also getting older and richer — meaning smaller shares of their populations will, in future, wish to emigrate in search of work. In Africa, by contrast, the working-age population is forecast to increase by around 700 million people by 2050. Another cause is economics. Many African countries are entering a phase in their development in which people are still poor enough to wish to leave but, for the first time, rich enough to be able to travel long distances. African countries create only around a fifth of the number of formal jobs required to absorb their expanding workforce.