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Sub-Saharan Africa’s rapidly growing cities and towns will play a decisive role in creating employment opportunities for the millions of young people entering the labour market each year, according to a new World Bank report.

The report, Sub-Saharan Africa's Urban Awakening: Catalysing Economic Growth and Job Creation, estimates that around 15 million young people join the region’s labour markets annually, making job creation one of the continent’s most pressing development challenges and one of its greatest opportunities.

The World Bank argues that successful efforts to connect young people with productive, better-paying jobs could generate significant economic and social benefits across the region. It says urban centres are likely to be at the heart of that transformation.

Sub-Saharan Africa has undergone one of the fastest urban transitions in the world. According to the report, the region’s urban population grew from 170 million people in 1975 to 913 million in 2025. By 2050, that figure is projected to reach 1.7 billion.

The World Bank says this rapid urban expansion has the potential to link workers with employment opportunities, connect businesses to larger markets and boost productivity. However, it notes that many of the expected economic gains from urbanisation have yet to materialise.

Despite sustained population growth in cities, productivity improvements have remained limited, income growth has been slow and a large share of employment continues to be informal and low-paying, the report says.

The flagship study examines why urbanisation has not delivered stronger economic outcomes and explores how cities can become more effective engines of growth and job creation. Using the World Bank Group’s jobs framework, the report identifies the major barriers preventing urban areas from reaching their full economic potential.

It also outlines a range of policy measures aimed at improving the performance of cities and towns, with the goal of generating higher-quality employment and accelerating economic development across the region.

The World Bank says that as urban populations continue to grow over the coming decades, the decisions governments make now about urban development, infrastructure and economic policy will be critical to determining whether Africa’s urban transformation translates into widespread prosperity and job creation.