While the rest of the world struggles with its aging population, Africa’s population is booming. By 2030, half of all new entrants to the global workforce will come from Sub-Saharan Africarequiring the creation of up to 15 million new jobs per year.

Like the Chart of the week The shows that this challenge is particularly acute in fragile, conflict-affected and low-income economies. They account for nearly 80 percent of the region’s annual job creation needs, but so far they have had the most difficulty creating jobs.

These economies have high fertility rates, and the young population has not yet peaked. For example, Niger has a population of 26 million and a proportion of young people that is not expected to peak before 2058: the country will need to create 650,000 new jobs per year over the next 30 years. In contrast, many middle-income countries such as Botswana, Ghana, Namibia and Mauritius have already seen the proportion of young people in their populations peak and will face less severe job creation pressures.

Harnessing Africa’s booming population growth potential requires creating large numbers of productive, quality jobs that provide income above subsistence level, whether in formal positions or independent jobs.

There are three main challenges to creating enough quality jobs, but policymakers have the tools to make a difference.

• Moving informal jobs from a trap to a springboard. Targeted policies include increasing productivity in the informal sector through well-tailored vocational training, better access to finance, and policies that encourage the transition to formal employment. It helps to create labor market programs that help young people, especially women facing additional barriers, enter the workforce, ensuring they have the tools to succeed.

• Create conditions conducive to employment growth in high-productivity sectors such as modern services and manufacturing. Given limited public finances, governments can prioritize measures that benefit multiple sectors, such as improving market competition and making infrastructure investments optimally. They should be careful with industrial policies that target specific sectors, as they can be costly, distortive and present corruption risks.

• Remove barriers to private business growth. Prioritizing important infrastructure like electricity, internet, roads and affordable public transport can facilitate the movement of goods and services. Reducing red tape and fighting corruption will also help businesses grow. Attracting more foreign direct investment and developing local capital markets can make more financing available. And strengthening regional integration and trade can expand markets.

The international community has much to gain from employment prosperity in sub-Saharan Africa. Not only is strong employment growth beneficial for countries and people in the region, it will also be an engine of growth, consumption and investment for the global economy. Failure could exacerbate poverty, fuel instability and spur migration, while success can unlock prosperity for both Africa and the rest of the world. Policymakers must strive to make meaningful changes that will pave the way for millions of people to a better employment future.

—This blog is based on an analytical note included in the October 2024 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa, Time is running out to address the urgent challenge of job creation in sub-Saharan Africaby Wenjie Chen, Khushboo Khandelwal, Athene Laws, Faten Saliba, Can Sever and Luc Tucker of the IMF Africa Department. To find out more, visit Presentation of the analytical corner by Athene Laws and Faten Saliba at the October 2024 annual meetings.