Sub-Saharan Africa

Key message

Sub-Saharan Africa

By 2050, half of the increase in the global youth population will come from sub-Saharan Africa, already the world’s youngest region, doubling its share of the world’s workforce to 20%. This injection of youth holds tremendous potential for growth and development, but the region’s progress can be no quicker than its progress in education. While advances in education have been made, sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rate of exclusion from education: nearly 60% of young people are out of school. Maintaining continuity of donor investments and marshalling additional contributions will set the stage for the next generation of youth to harness the continent’s vast potential.

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Key challenges

Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates of education exclusion of the 6 developing world regions. Over 1/5 of primary-age children are out of school, and almost 60% of children between the ages of 15 and 17 are not in school.
(World Bank, 2023)
New and additional sources of funding for education are required. Sub-Saharan Africa currently faces an annual education financing gap of US$70 billion.
(UNESCO, 2023)
Education needs to be a clear priority which transcends political priorities. Since 2015, there have been more than 25 changes in leadership across sub-Saharan Africa.
(ISPI, 2020)
Adequate infrastructure is needed to provide quality education for all in sub-Saharan Africa. Less than 1/3 of primary schools in at least 19 countries in the region have access to electricity, and 44% of primary schools have access to clean drinking water.
(UNESCO, 2023) (UNESCO UIS, 2019)
Investment in teachers is crucial. More than 15 million new teachers are needed in the region to achieve universal primary education by 2030 — the largest total of any global region.
(GEM, 2021)
Investment in the education and professional development of teachers in the region is critical. The region has the lowest percentage of teachers meeting national standards, with pupil to trained teacher ratios twice as high as the global average. Across six African countries surveyed, 84% of Grade 4 teachers did not meet the minimum learning levels.
(World Bank, 2019) (GEM, 2021)
Progress made has been slow. Between 2015 and 2020, female youth literacy increased by less than one percentage point per year. After beginning from similar levels of primary school completion in the early 2000s, the region has now fallen nearly 20 years behind Central and southern Asia.
(GEM, 2021)
Over-age school enrolment remains high. 23% of primary age children and 31% of lower secondary age youth are significantly over-age for the levels in which they are enrolled.
(GEM, 2021)

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Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates of education exclusion of the 6 developing world regions.
Over 1/5 of primary-age children are out of school, and almost 60% of children between the ages of 15 and 17 are not in school.
Source: (World Bank, 2023)

New and additional sources of funding for education are required.
Sub-Saharan Africa currently faces an annual education financing gap of US$70 billion.
Source: (UNESCO, 2023)

Education needs to be a clear priority which transcends political priorities.
Since 2015, there have been more than 25 changes in leadership across sub-Saharan Africa.
Source: (ISPI, 2020)

Adequate infrastructure is needed to provide quality education for all in sub-Saharan Africa.
Less than 1/3 of primary schools in at least 19 countries in the region have access to electricity, and 44% of primary schools have access to clean drinking water.
Sources: (UNESCO, 2023) (UNESCO UIS, 2019)

Investment in teachers is crucial.
More than 15 million new teachers are needed in the region to achieve universal primary education by 2030 — the largest total of any global region.
Source: (GEM, 2021)

Investment in the education and professional development of teachers in the region is critical.
The region has the lowest percentage of teachers meeting national standards, with pupil to trained teacher ratios twice as high as the global average. Across six African countries surveyed, 84% of Grade 4 teachers did not meet the minimum learning levels.
Sources: (World Bank, 2019) (GEM, 2021)

Progress made has been slow.
Between 2015 and 2020, female youth literacy increased by less than one percentage point per year. After beginning from similar levels of primary school completion in the early 2000s, the region has now fallen nearly 20 years behind Central and southern Asia.
Source: (GEM, 2021)

Over-age school enrolment remains high.
23% of primary age children and 31% of lower secondary age youth are significantly over-age for the levels in which they are enrolled.
Source: (GEM, 2021)

Make the case

Providing quality education for all in sub-Saharan Africa would increase productivity and generate significant economic growth. If the region were to realise the highest education and health scores on the World Bank’s Human Capital Index, GDP per worker could increase as much as 250%.
(Brookings, 2020)
Improving the efficiency of public education spending in sub-Saharan Africa would significantly advance access to education. If spending efficiency for public education in Africa was the same as in Latin America, the primary school completion rate would increase from 79% to 98%.
(AfDB, 2020)
Providing early childhood education in sub-Saharan Africa yields significant returns. Every dollar spent towards tripling pre-primary education enrolment in the region could yield a return of as much as $33 return on investment.
(Copenhagen Consensus Centre, 2016)
Education is essential to address the growing mismatch in skills and employment. Following current trends, sub-Saharan Africa will be home to the largest concentration of young people without the skills to participate productively in the workforce. Nearly nine in ten children in the region lack basic skills for the labour market.
(Global Business Coalition for Education/Education Commission, 2019) (World Bank, 2019)
Education can provide the security and stability necessary for sustainable growth and development. An estimated 40% of the world’s population younger than 18 will live in African countries vulnerable to fragility, conflict, and climate change by 2050, a region already host to the greatest number of refugees in the world. The risk of conflict in the areas of sub-Saharan Africa with the highest education inequality is almost double that in other areas.
(ISPI, 2020) (Brookings, 2019) (UNICEF 2022)
Education increases life expectancy in the region. People in sub-Saharan Africa live for longer when they have higher levels of education.
(Kouladoum, 2022)
Education in sub-Saharan Africa is a smart business investment. By 2060, the populations of Africa’s two most populous nations, Nigeria, and Ethiopia, will have tripled and doubled, respectively. Companies investing in the education of emerging markets like these will not only create the skilled workforce needed to address the global talent gap, but also capture the economic benefit of the resulting newly empowered consumer base.
(Brookings, 2013)

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Providing quality education for all in sub-Saharan Africa would increase productivity and generate significant economic growth.
If the region were to realise the highest education and health scores on the World Bank’s Human Capital Index, GDP per worker could increase as much as 250%.
Source: (Brookings, 2020)

Improving the efficiency of public education spending in sub-Saharan Africa would significantly advance access to education.
If spending efficiency for public education in Africa was the same as in Latin America, the primary school completion rate would increase from 79% to 98%.
Source: (AfDB, 2020)

Providing early childhood education in sub-Saharan Africa yields significant returns.
Every dollar spent towards tripling pre-primary education enrolment in the region could yield a return of as much as $33 return on investment.
Source: (Copenhagen Consensus Centre, 2016)

Education is essential to address the growing mismatch in skills and employment.
Following current trends, sub-Saharan Africa will be home to the largest concentration of young people without the skills to participate productively in the workforce. Nearly nine in ten children in the region lack basic skills for the labour market.
Sources: (Global Business Coalition for Education/Education Commission, 2019) (World Bank, 2019)

Education can provide the security and stability necessary for sustainable growth and development.
An estimated 40% of the world’s population younger than 18 will live in African countries vulnerable to fragility, conflict, and climate change by 2050, a region already host to the greatest number of refugees in the world. The risk of conflict in the areas of sub-Saharan Africa with the highest education inequality is almost double that in other areas.
Sources: (ISPI, 2020) (Brookings, 2019) (UNICEF 2022)

Education increases life expectancy in the region.
People in sub-Saharan Africa live for longer when they have higher levels of education.
Source: (Kouladoum, 2022)

Education in sub-Saharan Africa is a smart business investment.
By 2060, the populations of Africa’s two most populous nations, Nigeria, and Ethiopia, will have tripled and doubled, respectively. Companies investing in the education of emerging markets like these will not only create the skilled workforce needed to address the global talent gap, but also capture the economic benefit of the resulting newly empowered consumer base.
Source: (Brookings, 2013)

Key talking points

Africa is the world’s youngest region and will account for 20% of the world’s workforce by 2050.
Nearly 60% of young people aged 15 to 17 years are out of school in sub-Saharan Africa.
On current trends, by 2030, fewer than one in five young people in Africa will have basic secondary education literacy and numeracy skills.
Investment in education and opportunity is vital to Africa’s growth and future development.
Education is the key to unlocking the unprecedented cross-sectoral gains possible throughout the region, raising millions out of poverty and building the foundation for stable, sustained, and inclusive development.

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