The clock is ticking on Sub-Saharan Africa’s urgent job creation challenge

Africa’s booming population presents a significant opportunity and challenge, with sub-Saharan Africa set to supply half of the global labor force's new entrants by 2030.

Fragile, conflict-affected, and low-income economies face the greatest pressure, needing to create up to 15 million jobs annually. For instance, Niger must generate 650,000 jobs yearly for the next 30 years to sustain its growing youth population.

Key strategies for addressing this include transforming informal jobs into stepping-stones through skills training and better access to finance, fostering growth in high-productivity sectors like manufacturing and modern services, and removing barriers to private business expansion by investing in infrastructure, cutting bureaucracy, and encouraging foreign investment.

Success will unlock prosperity for Africa and the global economy, while failure risks deepening poverty and instability.