(Reuters) - President John Magufuli urged Tanzania’s women
to “set your ovaries free” and bear more children as a way to help boost the
economy into a regional powerhouse, a step critics said would instead worsen
inequality and poverty.
“When you have a
big population you build the economy. That’s why China’s economy is so huge,”
he said late on Tuesday, citing India and Nigeria as other examples of
countries that gained from a demographic dividend.
“I know that
those who like to block ovaries will complain about my remarks. Set your
ovaries free, let them block theirs,” he told a gathering in his home town of
Chato.
Since taking
office in 2015, Magufuli has launched an industrialisation campaign that has
helped buoy economic growth, which has averaged 6-7% annually in recent years.
But he has said a higher birth rate would achieve faster progress.
Tanzania has sustained relatively high growth, averaging
6–7 percent a year, over the past decade. At the same time, the East African
nation of 55 million people already has one of the world’s highest birth rates
- around 5 children per woman.
Last year Magufuli said curbing the birth rate was “for
those too lazy to take care of their children”, and the health ministry barred
broadcasting of family planning ads by a U.S.-funded project. [nL8N1W64BB]
While Tanzania’s poverty rate - people living on less than
$1 a day - has declined to about 26% as of 2016, the absolute number of poor
citizens has not because of the high population growth rate, according to the
World Bank.
Opposition
leaders in Tanzania have criticised Magufuli’s stance, saying the country’s
already rapid population growth is a time bomb, and disapproving remarks
surfaced on social media.
“As a modern woman I can’t believe this ... especially
coming from him (the president),” said one Twitter user.
Others said it was simply bad economics for Magufuli to
urge Tanzanians to have more babies.
“High population growth in Tanzania means increased levels
of poverty and income inequality,” said a rights activist based in Dar es
Salaam who asked not to be named to avoid possible repercussions from the
government’s ongoing review of registration of non-governmental organisations.
“Women’s ovaries should never be used as a tool for seeking economic
prosperity.”
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