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This article traces the evolution of demography, as a discipline, from the colonial period to the present day, but restricted to French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa and African demographers. This reflective exercise highlights a history closely linked to the construction of official statistics, the major role played by the international community (both in data collection and in training and research), a poorly developed and still fragile structuring of research, and a practice of demography that is increasingly multidisciplinary and moving toward a diversification of themes.