Angelini puts skills at the center of Africa's growth prospects
Skills development must turn Africa's expanding workforce into lasting productivity gains and quality jobs, Bank of Italy Senior Deputy Governor Paolo Angelini said at the AGORA 26 conference in Palermo.
600 million workers and growing
Africa's labor force reached 600 million in 2025 and is estimated to more than double by 2050, Paolo Angelini said.
Creating employment for this expanding workforce presents both a challenge and an opportunity as populations elsewhere age and decline.
He argued that young Africans need the know-how to use today's production technologies and realize the continent's demographic dividend.
Infrastructure and technology create opportunities, but human capital determines whether they deliver lasting productivity gains, quality jobs and economic growth.
Skills for workers were the main focus of the second Agorà Conference, which Angelini opened on October 26, 2026.
From energy infrastructure to skills
The conference reflects a partnership between the Bank of Italy, Italy's Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Italian Hub of the World Bank Group.
It promotes policy-oriented research cooperation between Italy and Africa.
The previous conference focused on physical infrastructure for energy as a necessary component of sustainable growth.
It also examined the catalytic role of international cooperation initiatives, including Mission 300 and Italy's Mattei Plan.
This year's focus adds workers' skills to that agenda.
Infrastructure alone is not enough
Angelini's message makes human capital a condition for realizing the benefits of infrastructure and technology.
A larger workforce alone does not secure the demographic dividend he describes.
The central challenge is turning demographic expansion into productive employment.