Africa’s fast growth won’t create enough jobs for young people, economist warns

Africa may be home to twelve of the world’s 15 fastest-growing economies this year, but the continent’s economic expansion is unlikely to generate enough jobs for its rapidly growing youth population unless governments accelerate industrialisation and structural reforms, according to Godfred Bokpin, professor of finance at the University of Ghana Business School.

Speaking during a regional economic outlook webinar organised by the CFA Society Ghana in partnership with CFA societies in Nigeria, East Africa, South Africa, Mauritius, and Egypt on Tuesday, Bokpin said headline GDP growth figures mask deep structural weaknesses that continue to limit employment creation across West Africa.

His remarks come as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its April 2026 World Economic Outlook, projects that Africa will account for 12 of the world’s 15 fastest-growing economies this year, led by Ethiopia, Guinea, Uganda, Rwanda, Benin and Côte d’Ivoire.

While acknowledging the continent’s strong growth proshttps://businessday.ng/africa/article/africa-still-dominates-global-growth-rankings-despite-imf-downgrades/pects, Bokpin argued that the quality of growth matters more than the pace.

“The growth is insufficient to meet the aspirations of West Africans,” he said. “We cannot simply celebrate growth because Africa is among the fastest-growing regions in the world. The growth has to be job-rich.”

He added much of the continent’s recent expansion has been driven by services and private consumption rather than manufacturing and value-added industries that typically generate large-scale employment.

“Industry has not responded appropriately in terms of value addition where growth becomes job-rich,” he said. “Instead, services have become the leading contributor to GDP growth. That is almost like turning the pyramid upside down because our economies are not known for services.”

The economist attributed the imbalance to decades of underinvestment in agriculture and manufacturing, arguing that weak industrialisation has pushed millions of Africans into low-productivity service activities dominated by retail and wholesale trade.

“Years of neglect of agriculture and industry mean everybody has moved into services, largely driven by imports, retail and wholesale,” he said. “Essentially, we are exporting jobs to the countries we import from while importing unemployment into the sub-region.”

The warning comes as the continent faces mounting pressure to create jobs for one of the world’s fastest-growing and youngest populations.

Although official unemployment rates average between seven and nine percent across much of the continent, economist say those figures understate the scale of the employment challenge because more than 85 percent of workers are employed in the informal economy, where jobs are often insecure and poorly paid.

Youth unemployment remains particularly severe. South Africa’s unemployment rate has remained above 30 percent in recent years, while youth unemployment in North Africa exceeds 25 percent in several countries. Elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, low official unemployment often masks widespread underemployment and vulnerable employment.

Bokpin noted that despite West Africa’s vast agricultural potential, the region still spends billions of dollars annually importing food.

Although reforms in agriculture are beginning to support economic recovery, governments have yet to commercialise the sector through agribusiness and agro-processing, limiting opportunities to create higher-value jobs and strengthen domestic industries.

He warned that Africa’s demographic profile makes employment creation more urgent than in most other regions. It remains the world’s youngest continent, with countries such as Niger recording a median age below 20 years. Millions of young people enter the labour market every year, but employment opportunities have failed to keep pace.

“The excess supply of labour is leading to labour devaluation,” Bokpin said. “Many graduates are settling for lower-end jobs because there are simply not enough opportunities.”

He said the consequences extend beyond the labour market. As economic growth becomes less labour-intensive, wealth is increasingly concentrated among a small share of the population, widening inequality and fuelling insecurity across parts of the Sahel.

Over the past 15 years, the richest one percent of the population has benefited disproportionately more than the bottom half, a trend that accelerated after the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

Rising insecurity is also forcing governments to divert scarce public resources towards defence spending at the expense of infrastructure, education and other productive investments.

While debt restructuring and fiscal reforms in countries such as Ghana have improved macroeconomic stability, the professor said policymakers must now shift their focus from stabilisation to inclusive growth.

“The continent has enormous growth potential, but we are growing far below that potential,” he said. “The objective should not simply be faster GDP growth. It should be growth that creates decent employment, raises incomes and gives young Africans opportunities in their own countries.”

Without stronger industrialisation, investment in productive sectors and policies that expand formal employment, Africa risks recording impressive economic growth while leaving millions of young people behind, he added.