AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

n 2016, the African Development Bank approved the “Jobs for Youth in Africa” strategy, with a target of 25 million jobs to be created by 2025. The same year, the Bank also launched with the European Investment Bank the “Boost Africa” initiative with an expected 25,000 direct jobs and at least 70,000 indirect jobs to be created. Jobs creation is also a key element of the AfDB priorities, the High5s, in particular “Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa” and “Industrialise Africa”. Moreover, indirect jobs creation is one indicator of the AfDB’s Results Measurement Framework 2016-2025.

In 2017-18, the AfDB has developed, in collaboration with Steward Redqueen, a pilot exercise to measure indirect and induced jobs supported by its investment in East Africa. The Bank is a founding member of the Joint Impact Model, and since 2020, has allowed us to measure indirect, induced, and forward effect jobs supported by our investments in both Africa's private and public sector

We decided to join the JIM team because the model is based on international data and initiatives and is developed jointly by several development finance institutions. In addition, all institutions using the JIM benefit from the knowledge generated and exchanged with other DFIs and are in position to bring their perspective into the discussions. This allows benchmarking our data on jobs creation with other major development institutions.

For now, the Bank is using the JIM to measure the expected jobs supported by its investments. In the future we plan to track as well actual jobs supported by our portfolio. We also plan to make further use of other key features of the JIM, including on CO2 emissions, and to work with other JIM members to extend and improve the model over the next years.