Promise Or Peril—Africas’s 830 Million Youth By 2050 - #1180

The population of Africa could almost double to 2.3 billion people by 2050 with a huge portion of that population being prime working age. The UN Resident Coordinator to Kenya, Siddharth Chatterjee, sees this as an opportunity Africa can harness to accelerate economic growth and lift hundreds of millions of people now living in extreme poverty out of it. Sid, a passionate advocate for both women and the people of Africa, sees the opportunity to employ this population in productive work as a key to a prosperous future. Interview with Siddharth Chatterjee, the United Nations Resident Coordinator to Kenya. of United Nations Kenya. The following is the pre-interview with Siddharth Chatterjee. Be sure to watch the recorded interview above. We’ll be discussing Promise or Peril-Africas’s 830 million youth by 2050 with Siddharth Chatterjee. How are you personally affected by Africas’s 830 million youth by 2050? Africa’s population is expected to reach around 2.3 billion by 2050. The accompanying increase in its working-age population creates a window of opportunity, which if properly harnessed, can translate into higher growth and yield a demographic dividend. In the wake of the Second World War, the Marshall Plan helped to rebuild shattered European economies in the interests of growth and stability. We need a plan of similar ambition that places youth employment in Africa at the center of development. What is your take on Africas’s 830 million youth by 2050? Whether the future of Africa is promising or perilous will depend on how the continent and the international community move from stated intent to urgent action and must give special priority to those SDGs that will give the continent a competitive edge through its youth. The core SDGs of ending poverty, ensuring healthy lives and ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education all have particular resonance with the challenge of empowering youth and making them effective economic citizens. Never miss another interview! Join Devin here: http://bit.ly/joindevin.