The World Bank has encourage Nigeria and other sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries to ensure cost-effective private sector reforms, uniform policy enforcement across firm sizes and regulatory alignment with regional trading partners among other policies to overcome the difficulty of decelerating growth and job creation.
The World Bank also recommended regional governments to assist in identifying and supporting early-stage business growth through more inclusive procurement procedures and promotion of indigenous enterprises abroad to boost human capital.
The World Bank noted this in its latest Africa’s Pulse report, while also advocating investment in education to strengthen the region’s semi-skilled occupations.
According to the research, the region’s poorest and most vulnerable people continue to face the brunt of the economic recession, as weak growth translates into delayed poverty reduction and poor employment development.
According to the report, while Africa comprises 12% of the world working-age population, SSA controls only 2% of the global capital pool.
The research also stated that the development of labor-intensive manufacturing appears to be lacking in Africa, limiting the impact of indirect job creation in support services and international commerce.
This, according to the report, could be attributable in part to a shortage of capital, which continues to stymie the structural transformation required for quality jobs.
Andrew Dabalen, World Bank Chief Economist for Africa, emphasized that with up to 12 million young Africans joining the labor market across the region each year, policymakers’ efforts to reform their economies and bring growth to people through better jobs have never been more critical. He claims that the region’s present growth rates are insufficient to provide enough high-quality jobs to meet the region’s growing working-age population.
According to him, present growth patterns generate only three million formal employment per year, leaving many young people unemployed and working in casual, fragmentary, and unstable positions that do not fully utilize their skills. He claimed that boosting work opportunities for young people will spur inclusive growth and turn the continent’s demographic abundance into an economic dividend.
In addition, World Bank Economist and report writer Nicholas Woolley stated that the urgency of job difficulties in Sub-Saharan Africa is highlighted by the enormous opportunity from demographic shifts witnessed in other countries.
According to him, this will necessitate the creation of an ecosystem that promotes private-sector development and firm expansion, as well as skill development that is in line with business demand.
The World Bank report also advised the region to find initiatives that will boost classroom learning as well as vocational education that can be effective in addressing the underemployed and those who did not receive an education as youngsters. The survey also stated that girl education and women’s access to jobs can mitigate potential production loss from female labor misallocation.
