Ernst said to Wimal, "Black people are important soldiers, especially given our youthful population structure in East Africa now. Moreover, there's an important factor: our East African territory has expanded more than six or seven times compared to before. Previously, our core territory was only in the eastern region, but now it includes the central and southern regions, both of which are under threat of war."
The main source of East Africa's new population has actually shifted from immigration to childbirth, which presents a kind of happy dilemma of population pressure.
Conversely, if a country faces an aging population, it would probably be less cheerful. In Ernst's view, such countries are on a downhill path. Of course, this is also an inevitable future for East Africa, unless East Africa stagnates completely, just like its predecessors among African countries that consistently remain third-world nations.
