Writing history backwards or sideways: towards a consensus on A frican population, 1850–2010

This article aims to make an empirical and theoretical contribution towards the creation of a continent‐wide dataset on A frican population extending into the pre‐1950 era. We investigate the reliability and the validity of the current population databases with the aim of working towards a consensus on the long‐term series of A frican total population with a reliable 1950 benchmark. The cases of K enya, N igeria, and G hana are explored to show the uneven coverage of census taking in colonial and post‐colonial A frica and to demonstrate the need for an upward adjustment of the conventional 1950 benchmark. In addition, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of M anning's approach of projecting population growth estimates backwards in time by adopting the available Indian census data as A frican ‘default growth rates’, and we propose an alternative approach by incorporating the demographic experiences of tropical land‐abundant countries in S outh‐ E ast A sia.