12 m Number of Africans entering the job market each year.
1.25 bn Projected number of people of working age on the African continent by 2050.
75% Global electricity consumed outside the home in the wider economy.
The Issue
The best solution to poverty is a job. Yet tens of millions of young people are unemployed and their human potential is being wasted because electricity is too expensive, too unreliable, or simply unavailable.
Relevance
In many countries, the cost and reliability of power are leading barriers to productivity and job creation. If we want to build a prosperous world where everyone has a fair shot at a job and a better life, we need to deliver affordable, reliable energy at scale.
Our Approach
The Energy for Growth Hub uses the latest data and economic studies to better understand where energy is a binding constraint to growth. We use those insights to inform policymakers where new investments in energy infrastructure will have the greatest returns to employment creation and economic expansion.
Foreign Affairs: Can Nigeria Solve Its Energy Crisis?
Nigeria is home to one in every five Africans and it has the continent’s largest economy. More than half of Nigerians are under 20 years old. Whether all these bright young people will drive growth or generate instability depends largely on whether Nigeria’s economy can produce jobs for them. And Nigeria won’t be able to create jobs at the required pace until it solves its energy crisis.
Scientific American: To End Poverty, Increase Access to Energy
Board Member Tisha Schuller and Advisor Seth Levey write in Scientific American: We have come to understand that energy is among the most important anti-poverty tools….
Oct 25, 2021
Oct 18, 2022
Sep 06, 2023
