The African continent, and its future, are at a critical crossroads.
The African continent is poised to undergo immense change, ignited by a population boom that will result in 25 percent of the global working-age population being located in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2050. Nowhere else on earth will experience such growth. As most major economies are seeing their working-age populations stagnate or shrink, Sub-Saharan Africa’s is increasing rapidly.
As global demographic disparities widen and Africa’s population increases, the current expectation is that poverty levels will persist. However, if Africa’s population increase is accompanied by an investment in productivity and development, it can lift millions out of poverty and become the next major, and much-needed, engine of global growth.
One of the most effective tools at our disposal for generating proven, impactful development in Africa is the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA).
IDA is the largest source of development funding for the world’s poorest countries. IDA financing provides a lifeline for the governments of its current 77 member countries, which are facing multiple crises that have set back global development and helps them get back into a positive trajectory for long-term economic growth.
IDA aims to support social and economic development for almost 2 billion people. The World Bank Group, of which IDA is a part, has committed to, alongside its partners, connect 300 million Africans to reliable energy by 2030, provide health services to 1.5 billion people worldwide, and expand support for social protection programs to alleviate hunger for 500 million people by 2030, with half of them expected to be women.
This is why we are calling on world leaders of G20 and other wealthy countries to support Africa’s development by working towards a $120 billion replenishment for the World Bank’s International Development Association's 21st funding round (IDA21), on the best terms possible for the poorest countries, in December of 2024.
As Africa faces an inflection point in its development, we all must come together in support of growth and in defiance of poverty to further global progress. We hope you will join us.