The World Bank Group is expanding the use of risk guarantees across Africa in a major push to attract private investment into sectors critical for job creation and electricity access, as the continent’s young and rapidly growing workforce places mounting pressure on governments to deliver economic opportunities.
The World Bank Group Guarantee Platform, housed at the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), said it aims to more than double its annual issuance of guarantees in Africa to $6.4 billion by 2030.
The initiative is expected to mobilise about $23 billion in private capital over the next four years for projects spanning agribusiness, energy, infrastructure, healthcare, finance, trade and digital services.
The institution said the guarantees are expected to improve the lives of around 190 million people across the continent over the next four years, including expanding access to electricity, broadband internet, finance and sustainable transport services.
Africa’s working-age population is projected to rise by 740 million over the next three decades, while as many as 12 million young people are expected to enter the labour market every year, intensifying the need for large-scale investment in job-rich sectors.
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Under the plan, the World Bank Group said the guarantees would support initiatives such as AgriConnect, aimed at transforming smallholder farming and strengthening food security, as well as Mission 300, a joint initiative of the World Bank Group and the African Development Bank designed to connect 300 million people in Africa to electricity by 2030.
Mission 300 is also backed by The Rockefeller Foundation, Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, and Sustainable Energy for All.
According to the World Bank Group, the guarantees could help provide electricity access to 43 million people, improve financial inclusion for 50 million people and businesses, particularly women-owned enterprises, and strengthen food and nutrition security for five million people.
The programme is also expected to reach around 51 million people through digitally enabled services, connect 37 million people to broadband internet, and improve access to sustainable transport infrastructure and services for three million people.
Tsutomu Yamamoto, managing director of MIGA, said Africa’s demographic expansion makes investment mobilisation increasingly urgent.
“Africa is home to the world’s youngest and fastest-growing workforce, and guarantees will play a critical role in attracting the investment to create the jobs needed to secure their future,” Yamamoto said.
“We are delighted to announce these ambitious new commitments, which will ultimately help to build robust and stable economies that yield quality jobs in everything from agribusiness and health care to energy and infrastructure,” he added.