The World Bank has stated that population growth is accelerating most rapidly in Africa, predicting that Nigeria’s population will increase by approximately 130 million people by 2050.
Currently, with a population exceeding 220 million, making it the sixth most populous nation globally, the Bretton Woods institution advised Nigeria and other developing countries to prioritise job creation.
Speaking during the 2025 World Bank–IMF Annual Meetings Plenary, the World Bank Group President, Ajay Banga, emphasised that employment must form the core of every development, economic, and national security plan.
Banga forecast that by 2050, more than 85 per cent of the global population will reside in developing nations, with Africa expected to host one in every four people on earth.
He estimated that 1.2 billion young individuals would enter the global workforce over the next 10 to 15 years, competing for around 400 million available jobs—only a third of the number required.
“These young people—with their energy and ideas—will define the next century,” he noted. “With the right investments, we can unlock a powerful engine of global growth.”
Explaining the World Bank’s ongoing initiatives, Banga said that 153 internal metrics had been streamlined into a corporate scorecard containing 22 key performance indicators, while the bank’s financial capacity had been enhanced by about $100 billion through innovative tools and optimisation.
He revealed that annual financing had grown from $107 billion to $119 billion within two years, private capital mobilisation had risen from $47 billion to $67 billion, total commitments including PCM had reached $186 billion, and a further $79 billion had been secured through bond issuances.
Through these initiatives, the bank has enabled 20 million farmers to gain access to technology, inputs, and markets; connected 60 million people to electricity; provided 70 million people with education or vocational training; and delivered quality health and nutrition services to 300 million individuals.
Additionally, the World Bank has fostered mutual collaboration with the Asian Development Bank and is formulating an IFC2030 strategy aimed at bolstering private capital mobilisation. The MDB co-financing platform has already supported 175 projects.
Banga highlighted the bank’s partnerships with various governments to combat corruption using data-driven tools such as digital identification linked to assets, improved fraud detection mechanisms, and artificial intelligence capable of correlating tax, property, and identity data.
“Over the past decade, we’ve supported 120 governments in this effort and are currently working with 26 more to target corruption and illicit financial flows,” he added.
