Africa’s vast human, natural capital key to achieving African Union’s Agenda 2063—experts

Africa, the world’s youngest continent with immeasurable natural resources, has all it needs to achieve the African Union’s Agenda 2063, provided the right public policies are implemented, according to government officials and development experts. The experts expressed this shared conviction on Monday during the 2025 Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank Group, taking place in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, under the theme “Making Africa’s Capital Work Better for Africa’s Development.” Speaking at a knowledge event titled “Second Ten-Year Implementation Plan for Agenda 2063: An Opportunity to Develop and Finance Africa’s Capital,” Koffi N’Guessan, Ivorian Minister of Vocational Training and Apprenticeships, reaffirmed that Agenda 2063 — adopted in January 2015 by the African Union – remains the strategic framework for the continent’s economic and social transformation.
N’Guessan noted that, despite a challenging global environment, the last decade has seen notable progress in Africa, particularly in economic and political integration, gender equality, and access to employment opportunities. However, he acknowledged that previous efforts have often fallen short of addressing the continent’s structural transformation needs, including job creation for youth and poverty reduction. “The second Agenda 2063 implementation plan, adopted in February 2024 by the African Union, offers a crucial opportunity to tackle these challenges and accelerate development outcomes,” he said. According to the Ivorian Minister, Africa is poised to become a major global power, alongside China and India, due to its demographic potential. However, he stressed that African countries should prioritize vocational and technical training to fully harness this demographic dividend. He highlighted a worrying trend: approximately 22.5 percent of young people aged 15 to 24 are unemployed with no education or training. Additionally, 250 million children and young people in low-income countries are not in school, underlining the disconnect between education systems and labor market needs. “Youth can become a liability if robust training policies are not implemented – from nursery school through to university,” he warned.
Hervé Lohouès, Division Manager in the Country Economics Department at the African Development Bank, emphasized the importance of natural wealth in calculating the GDP of African countries. “The GDP of a country like the Central African Republic would increase by 300 percent if its natural resources were taken into account in the calculation of its GDP,” he asserted. He added: “It is essential to go beyond natural enhancement and ensure that all African countries adopt a compulsory development plan. We also need to ensure that governments provide incentives for transformation while considering accountability that can directly help the transition from natural to social infrastructure.” Jide Okeke, Regional Program Coordinator for Africa at the United Nations Development Programme, and Dagmawit Moges Bekele, former Eritrean Minister of Transport and Director of the Peace Fund at the African Union Commission, both stressed the need to leverage human, financial, natural and digital resources to drive inclusive and sustainable development — key to achieving the objectives outlined in the second decade of Agenda 2063.