Our Mission

The youth—those born between 1994 and 2003—account for 16% of the world's total population. These 1.2 billion people are likely first-time job seekers or those relatively new to the labor market.

Where can they find employment? In the early 2000s, the Services sector surpassed Agriculture to become the world’s largest employer. Today, Services accounts for 50 percent of employment, while Agriculture and Industry make up 30 and 20 percent, respectively. Read More

It is projected that the world’s population will continue to grow and will reach nearly 10 billion by 2050. While in other regions growth will slow significantly, in Sub-Saharan Africa, the population is projected to double by 2050, an expansion of nearly 10 times relative to 1960, from 227 million to 2.2 billion.

As a result, the share of Sub-Saharan Africa in the world’s population is projected to grow as well. In 1960, the share of the region was just 7 percent, but this has increased to 14 percent in 2018, and is projected to reach 23 percent by 2050. Globally, almost 1 in 4 people will be Sub-Saharan African in 2050, whereas the ratio was 1 in 13 in 1960. Read More. 

The money workers send home to their families from abroad has become a critical part of many economies around the world. Based on the most recent data, remittances, as this money is called, will only grow in importance. Officially recorded remittances amounted to a record $529 billion in 2018, and are on track to reach $550 billion in 2019. Today, remittances equal or surpass 25% of GDP in five countries: Tonga, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Haiti, and Nepal. Read More. 

Today, 47 million people are connected to a mini grid. Afghanistan, Myanmar, India and Nepal have the highest number of mini grids, followed by China, Philippines, Indonesia. Analysis by the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) shows that by 2030, nearly half a billion people could be connected to a mini grid. Read More.

Rising debt levels are increasingly a concern. Many emerging and developing economies have borrowed heavily and their hard-won reductions of public debt before the global financial crisis have eroded. Emerging and developing economy debt has climbed by an average of 15 percentage points to 51 percent of GDP in 2018, the World Bank’s June 2019 Global Economic Prospects: Heightened Tensions, Subdued Investment reports. Read More.