Africa’s Pulse : Sub-Saharan Africa’s growth remains steady, but employment remains a major challenge
Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy continues to demonstrate remarkable resilience, with growth projected at 3.8% in 2025. Yet, employment remains a central challenge for its rapidly expanding population, highlighting the urgent need for structural reforms and targeted investments to create quality jobs. These findings resonate with recent Gen Z protests across Morocco, Kenya, and Madagascar, as young people increasingly demand more job opportunities and improved living conditions.
Despite a global environment of uncertainty, Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy continues to show resilience. According to the latest semiannual World Bank report, Africa’s Pulse, regional growth is expected to rise from 3.5% in 2024 to 3.8% this year. This improvement is supported by easing inflationary pressures and a modest rebound in investment. By July 2025, only ten countries recorded double-digit inflation, compared with twenty-three in October 2022, signaling a process of price stabilization.
The number of over-indebted or at-risk countries has nearly tripled
However, these projections remain fragile. Risks include uncertainties in global trade policies, declining investor interest, and tightening external financing, compounded by a decrease in official development assistance. External debt in the region has more than doubled over the past decade, reaching 2% of GDP in 2024, and the number of over-indebted or at-risk countries has nearly tripled, rising from eight in 2014 to 23 in 2025—almost half of Sub-Saharan African states.
The challenge will be to translate demographic growth into higher-quality employment
Current growth remains insufficient to significantly reduce extreme poverty or generate the jobs needed to match demographic expansion. Africa is undergoing a rapid demographic transformation, with the labor force expected to grow by over 600 million people over the next 25 years, notes Andrew Dabalen, World Bank Chief Economist for the Africa Region. “The challenge will be to translate this demographic growth into higher-quality employment, knowing that only 24% of new workers currently secure salaried jobs,” he explains.
Attracting high-growth companies
To address this challenge, the Africa’s Pulse report recommends several key measures. First, reducing the cost of doing business is essential to enable existing firms to expand and attract high-growth companies. Second, investments in quality infrastructure—energy, digital, transport—and in human capital and skills development are critical to creating an ecosystem conducive to employment and investment. Strengthening institutions and governance is also crucial to ensure stability, reduce corruption, and provide a predictable business environment.
With appropriate structural reforms and targeted investments, Sub-Saharan Africa can unlock its full employment potential and set the region on a path toward sustainable and inclusive growth
The report also emphasizes the private sector’s role in key industries such as agribusiness, tourism, healthcare, mining, housing, and construction. For example, each job created in tourism generates 1.5 additional jobs in related sectors, illustrating the multiplier effect of inclusive growth policies. With the right structural reforms and targeted investments, Sub-Saharan Africa can unlock its full employment potential and move toward sustainable and inclusive growth.
In Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Algeria, and Togo, Gen Z is demanding more jobs and better living conditions, highlighting the gap between economic growth and real opportunities for youth
The report’s findings resonate with recent youth protests in Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Algeria, and Togo, predominantly led by Gen Z, demanding more jobs and better living conditions. These mobilizations highlight the disconnect between overall economic growth and tangible opportunities for young people. They underscore the urgency of translating macroeconomic resilience into sustainable, quality employment to prevent social tensions and ensure genuinely inclusive growth. The World Bank report confirms that, without an acceleration of structural reforms and investment in job-creating sectors, youth frustration is likely to continue growing across the region.
