Outrage As Macron Says 'Africa's Main Problem Is 7-8 Children Per Woman'

France's newly elected President Emmanuel Macron has come under fire following his "controversial" remarks regarding Africa and African women at the just ended G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.

Macron reportedly told a press conference during the summit last weekend that "civilisation" problems and women having "seven or eight children" were hampering development on the African continent.

According to BBC, in an answer as to why there was no concerted effort to help the continent economically, Macron said:

"A successful demographic transition when countries still have seven to eight children per woman – you can decide to spend billions of euros, you will not stabilise anything."

A 28 second edited video clip of Macron's response was shared on social media and it provoked outrage, with some accusing him of racism and of blaming women for poverty.

Outrage As Macron Says 'Africa's Main Problem Is 7-8 Children Per Woman'

The Independent UK newspaper said that Macron also listed issues including Islamist terrorism, drugs and weapons trafficking but said there were examples showing the "continent is a land of opportunity".

He acknowledged the fact that France was a former colonial power that controlled dozens of territories across Africa but a "simple money transfer" was not the answer to the continent's problems.

"At the moment, spending billions of euros outright would stablise nothing. So the transformation plan that we have to conduct together must be developed according to African interests by and with African leaders," Macron was quoted as saying.