NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 2 – Equity Group CEO James Mwangi has been appointed to the World Bank Group’s High-Level Advisory Council on Jobs.
The council, which was launched during the 2024 World Bank Group-IMF Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., will provide critical guidance on creating job opportunities, particularly for youth and women in emerging and developing economies.
The council, co-chaired by Tharman Shanmugaratnam, President of Singapore, and Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile, brings together a diverse group of global leaders from policy, business, academia, and civil society.
The goal is to develop actionable, scalable recommendations to tackle the escalating job crisis expected to affect 1.2 billion people in the Global South over the next decade.
The Brixton Woods affiliated council will address the growing employment gap as emerging economies, particularly in Africa, face a surge in working-age populations, with an estimated 800 million individuals expected to lack job opportunities by 2034.
Mwangi expressed his commitment to the initiative noting that it will have far-reaching effects on poverty reduction in the continent.
“These global demographic shifts present an unprecedented opportunity for Africa. By effectively leveraging the continent’s young and growing population, we could see up to 15% GDP growth and a 17% reduction in poverty by 2030,” he stated.
Mwangi emphasized that Equity’s Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan aims to create 50 million jobs by 2030.
The Council will meet every two months for an initial period of up to two years, engaging with senior World Bank management to ensure its recommendations are effectively implemented.
Other members of the council include Guy Ryder, UN Under Secretary General for Policy; Patrick Achi, former Prime Minister of Cote d’Ivoire; Sebastien Bazin, Chairman and CEO of Accor Group; and experts from institutions like the University of Chicago and Yale University.
