Click to watchAfrica’s growing youth population is reaching its breaking point. The World Bank and the African Development Bank have both warned that the continent must create millions of new jobs every year to absorb its young labour force or risk deeper unrest and political instability.
That warning comes at a time when Gen Z–led protests are spreading from Madagascar to Morocco and Kenya, echoing earlier movements such as Nigeria’s #EndSARS. Across the continent, young people are expressing frustration toward ageing political elites, rising living costs, and the shortage of decent jobs that offer stability and a future.
Africa’s working-age population is projected to double by 2050, adding 600 million new entrants to the job market. Yet only about one in four workers today holds a formal wage-paying job, according to estimates from the World Bank and the African Development Bank.
Most Africans work in informal sectors such as agriculture, street trading, and gig work. These jobs may offer short-term survival but little stability or opportunity to grow. The World Bank warns that this imbalance threatens to erode trust in public institutions and stall economic reforms.
The tension is already visible on the streets of several African cities. In Madagascar, demonstrations over unemployment, power cuts, and poor governance have left more than twenty people dead and many others injured, according to Reuters. In Morocco, the GenZ 212 movement has drawn thousands of young people chanting slogans like “Health before football,” demanding better education, healthcare, and accountability from their leaders. Youth unemployment in Morocco is now about 36%.
Click to viewKenya has also witnessed youth-led demonstrations over rising taxes and the high cost of living. Parts of Nairobi were brought to a standstill as police clashed with protesters earlier this year. Many young Kenyans say government policies seem to benefit the elite while pushing ordinary citizens deeper into hardship.
In Nigeria, the 2020 #EndSARS protests started as a call to end police brutality but quickly grew into a broader generational revolt against corruption, unemployment, and a lack of opportunity. The government’s heavy-handed response silenced the protests, but the resentment that fueled them has not gone away.
Amid this unrest, Africa’s expanding technology ecosystem has brought a sense of hope. Between 2020 and 2023, startups across sectors such as fintech, logistics, and e-commerce created more than 600,000 digital jobs, according to industry estimates.
Yet the demand for skilled tech talent far outpaces supply. The International Finance Corporation projects that Africa will need about 230 million digitally skilled workers by 2030. The current pace of training and job creation cannot close this gap.
Initiatives like Andela, ALX Africa, and Decagon in Nigeria, Kenya, and Egypt are helping thousands of young people learn digital skills and software development. But many graduates remain underemployed or move abroad in search of better pay and working conditions.
The World Bank is urging African governments to shift focus from consumption to production. It recommends investing in skills development, improving electricity and broadband access, and reforming tax systems to attract private investment and support entrepreneurship.
It also emphasises the need to build scalable industries such as manufacturing and agribusiness that can employ large numbers of people. Without that shift, the continent’s demographic dividend could easily become a demographic crisis.
“The next decade is Africa’s defining moment,” the World Bank warns. “Without enough good jobs, frustration could turn opportunity into instability.”
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