Yes and no. This is my argument indeed that if the population growth stayed lower then a lot more people would have been able to rise above the poverty level (o

Yes and no. This is my argument indeed that if the population growth stayed lower then a lot more people would have been able to rise above the poverty level (or even much higher). UN prediction for Africa is that they fall close to the reproduction threshold for the end of century. Until that the poverty trap will continue. It also means that by that time now 4 billion people require their needs satisfied instead. But the population growth has been huge and exponential. From 200 million to 4 billion in 150 years is an incredible amount of growth.