G20 & African finance ministers finance the future: educate, employ & empower Africa’s youth

Turning Africa’s demographic development into a success needs a doubling of development financing, the inclusion of fragile states and focus on education

One day ahead of the meeting of the G20 Finance Ministers, the ONE campaign calls on the group to extend the current scope of the Compacts with Africa and to commit to an ambitious investment plan to help boost education, employment and empowerment in Africa to harness a demographic dividend of the continent over the coming years.

Africa’s population is going to double by 2050. This demographic development can lead to grave risks for international stability or – if the right steps are taken – it can lead to a prospering continent which will benefit the African people as well as everyone on our planet. . To absorb the youth bulk, Africa requires 18 million new jobs each year. To help reach inclusive and sustainable growth, the Compacts need to include more of the most fragile countries such as Nigeria to reach the most vulnerable people in regions that are prone to conflict. In addition, the G20 need to commit to ambitious public investment for education, employment and empowerment as this cannot to be covered by the private sector alone. In Nigeria alone, 13million children are out of school. This is the biggest number anywhere in the world.

Friederike Röder, Global  Director for Security and Development, said: “By putting Africa at the heart of the agenda, the German G20 presidency shows that they have fully grasped the current global challenges and opportunity. To put an end to business as usual with the relationship with Africa, this initiative must now be followed by a sustainable and substantial investment plan that mobilizes not just private but also public funding and responds to the reality of the poorest but also the most dynamic continent.”

Regarding the Compacts with Africa, Röder continues: “The compacts with Africa under discussion at the G20 Finance must go well beyond necessary macroeconomic and financial reforms to attract more private investment. We need a doubling of development funding with a focus on girl’s education, employment and empowerment. Currently a scandalous number of 51 million girls in Africa are out of school.”

Röder continues: “The G20 compacts should enable genuine partnerships to be built with all of Africa, including fragile and poor states. A partnership in which all partners agree to increase their respective share of the burden in terms of scaling investments in a “triple E” – education, employment and empowerment, while also halving illicit capital flight, improving governance and putting people first in terms of domestic spending in order to prepare for the doubling of the continent’s population and to offer all the opportunities to which its youth is entitled.”

Notes to the editors:

• ONE recommends a doubling of development financing from currently $60 billion to $120 billion in 2020 to realize a demographic dividend and to meet the needs of a doubling population. At least half of the increases should come from Official Development Assistance.
• The G20 Finance Ministers can significantly curb money laundering and illicit capital flight which costs the African continent 89bn US-Dollar annually. They need to agree on improving the global financial architecture by publishing information about the beneficial owners of companies and trusts as well as the country by country reports of multinational corporations, which will help African countries boost their tax bases and domestic revenues.