Africa is an undeniably rich continent with vast natural resources that could make it an economic colossus and powerhouse. According to the African Development Bank (AfDB), the continent sits atop an estimated $6.5 trillion worth of untapped minerals, oil, gas, and arable land. Despite this staggering economic potential, the continent remains the poorest on the planet, with nearly half a billion people trapped in poverty and unable to fend for their basic daily needs. This glaring contradiction has brought to the fore the reality that resources alone are insufficient without the human capacity to harness them into valuable propositions.

For years, Africa’s development paradigm and narrative have more often than not focused on resource extraction: oil drilling, mining, and agriculture, while overlooking its most important asset: its people. That’s beginning to change as African leaders, billionaires, and policymakers are articulating a new vision, one that recognises true wealth lies not just beneath the soil but in the skills, ingenuity, and labour of the continent’s 1.4 billion inhabitants.

With 60 per cent of its population under 25 years, Africa is the world’s youngest continent with a vast reservoir of untapped human capital. The World Bank noted that every year, between eight to 11 million young people enter the African job market with only three million formal openings available. This massive youth population and unemployment gap presents an opportunity and a serious risk; that is, if well nurtured, this generation of Africans could drive unprecedented economic development and growth, innovation, and stability, but if neglected, could lead to mass unemployment, unrest, fertile ground for terrorist recruitment and a global migration crisis. The difference between these outcomes depends entirely on investment in human capital: education, skills development, and meaningful economic opportunities.

At the Africa Human Capital Heads of State Summit in Dar es Salaam in 2023, Kenyan President William Ruto, who emphasised the urgency of investing in Africa’s workforce, said Africa must strategically invest in its workforce if it is to grow.

He said: “The continent is presented with gifted human capital that can drive its transformation.”

These words highlight a fundamental truth, which is that without educated, skilled, and healthy populations, even the most resource-rich nations will remain vulnerable to global commodity swings and foreign exploitation.

Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who also made a similar case during his address at the G20 Summit in Berlin, where he enthused that beyond Nigeria’s vast oil reserves and mineral wealth, the country’s greatest advantage is its people: “Highly educated, highly skilled, and naturally industrious, they are the primary asset the country wields over other nations.”

Djibouti’s Foreign Minister and candidate for the African Union, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, emphasised the importance of human capital as essential to Africa’s economic sovereignty. He stated: “The true wealth of Africa lies in its people; we must prioritise investing in our human capital to take charge of our economic future.”

This emerging consensus represents a significant departure from the old fatalism that has limited Africa’s potential to its mineral resources.

Recognising the urgency, Africa’s private sector is stepping in where governments might have fallen short. For instance, the United Bank for Africa (UBA), Africa’s global bank, has committed $6 billion to empower small and medium-sized enterprises under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which directly targets human capital development. With 80 per cent of Africa’s economy operating in the informal sector, driven by micro-businesses and self-made entrepreneurs, such investments and commitments are vital and important.

UBA’s Group Managing Director, Oliver Alawuba, recently said: “Our focus is on enabling trade, but more critically, on building the skills and financial access that turn young Africans into job creators, not job seekers. For these goals to be achieved, we are dedicated to partnering for progress with government and international agencies.”

He said with over 20 subsidiaries across the continent, UBA is well-positioned to connect African nations through what he described as innovative payment infrastructure, “as seen in our partnership with institutions and global banks like Afreximbank.”

“With Afreximbank, UBA is driving the adoption of transformative technologies such as the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS),” Alawuba said.

He emphasised the game-changing potential of PAPSS, most particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

“Our partnership with PAPSS is aimed at simplifying transactions and removing traditional banking bottlenecks. This payment system empowers businesses to operate more efficiently and scale seamlessly across borders,” he noted.

This payment revolution, continental interconnection, and economic development, he noted, are shaped not only by big corporations but also by the involvement and contribution of startups.

Every year in mid-May, the Financial Times releases a list of 130 startup firms contributing to the living experience of the people on the continent which is a testament to their ingenuity.

Africa’s tech revolution offers the most compelling proof of human capital potential on the continent. Unlike past waves of innovation, this one is homegrown and tailored to local realities. From mobile and digital payment platforms like Flutterwave to solar-powered Wi-Fi routers for areas with unreliable electricity developed by Kenya’s BRCK, these innovators are proving that Africa’s financial and economic future will be shaped by Africans, for Africa.

To achieve these dreams of a self-sufficient and economically independent continent, education must be the watchword, as it is the single most powerful tool for unlocking human capital. Initiatives like Zambia’s “End Learning Poverty Campaign” supported by the African Union and UNICEF which seeks to ensure that every child can read, write, and perform basic math by the age of 10,  UBA’s Read Africa programme, which distributes books and promotes literacy across the continent, and the African Union’s Year of Education 2024 campaign, highlight the growing recognition that without quality education, Africa’s demographic dividend will become a demographic disaster.

There are more stakes than ever. If the current trends persist, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) estimates that over 84 million children will be out of school by 2030. This has catastrophic consequences, leading to an ill-prepared workforce struggling to adapt to today’s jobs, lower economic productivity, and an entire generation of youth without the tools and opportunities to thrive.

As we commemorate the Africa Day and month this year, it is important for us to pay more cognizance to the African youth bulge which can either become its greatest asset or liability. The difference depends on whether leaders (corporate, governmental, and civil) treat this generation as a resource to be cultivated or a risk to be contained. Investments in education, SME financing, and digital infrastructure are pivotal economic strategies which are the foundation of continental stability.