How jobs hold the key to global prosperity

As youth populations surge in emerging markets, leaders at the World Bank rally behind infrastructure, innovation, and inclusive policies to unlock millions of jobs and safeguard global stability

- ABDULAZIZ KHATTAK

As an unprecedented wave of young people prepares to enter the workforce across developing and emerging markets, the world faces a challenge that is both daunting and hopeful: Creating enough decent jobs to match the ambitions of a generation.

At the World Bank Spring Meetings 2025 in Washington DC, policymakers, business leaders, and young changemakers came together to confront that future-one job, one story, and one bold idea at a time.

THE NUMBERS TELL A STARK STORY

In the next decade, 1.2 billion young people will come of working age in countries where just 420 million new jobs are expected to materialise; the math is sobering, and the social implications could be devastating.

But the gathering’s message in the session titled, Jobs: The Path to Prosperity’, was clear: With the right mix of policy, infrastructure, capital, and vision, this looming crisis can be turned into an opportunity for shared prosperity.

The World Bank has now made job creation central to its mission, framing employment not simply as a by-product of growth but as its engine — a transformative force capable of lifting communities, mending economies, and even staving off conflict.

THREE STORIES OF RESILIENCE & REINVENTION

The event opened with a trio of personal testimonies, each offering a glimpse into how lives, businesses, and entire industries can be reshaped by access to opportunity.

In South Africa, Nonkululeko Nyembezi, Chairman of Standard Bank Group, shared how a renewable energy programme born out of an electricity crisis has not only stabilised the national grid but sparked a green energy revolution.

“Thirteen years ago, we had blackouts and a failing public utility. Today, private sector-led renewables deliver over 6,000 megawatts of power, with more to come,” she said. The project has created over 82,000 job years and is on track to employ 200,000 people by 2030.