Publication: The Africa Competitiveness Report 2017: Addressing Africa’s Demographic Dividend
Date
2017-05-01
ISSN
Published
2017-05-01
Author(s)
World Economic Forum
World Bank
African Development Bank
Abstract
Without urgent action to address low
levels of competitiveness, Africa’s economies will not
create enough jobs for the young people entering the job
market. If current policies remain unchanged, fewer than
one-quarter of the 450 million new jobs needed in Africa in
the next 20 years will be created. These are among the key
findings of the Africa Competitiveness Report 2017, a
biennial publication jointly produced by the World Economic
Forum, the African Development Bank, and the World Bank
Group. Priorities to meet the changing demographics include
policy reform to improve the quality of institutions,
infrastructure, skills and adoption of new technology. House
construction and better urban planning present opportunities
for short-term competitiveness gains. The report finds that
the ability of Africa’s economies to generate enough jobs
for its young and growing population rests on the successful
implementation of urgent structural reforms to boost
productivity. Competitiveness is defined as the set of
institutions, policies and factors that determine the level
of productivity, and hence future prosperity, of a country.
The report, which covers North Africa and Sub-Saharan
Africa, comes at a time when growth in most of the region’s
economies has been slowing after a decade of sustained
growth. Further stagnation is likely in the absence of
improvements in the core conditions for competitiveness.
Compounding the challenge to Africa’s leaders is a rapidly
expanding population.
Citation
“World Economic Forum; World Bank; African Development Bank. 2017. The Africa Competitiveness Report 2017: Addressing Africa’s Demographic Dividend. © Geneva: World Economic Forum. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26520 License: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO.”