ADDIS ABABA, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and World Bank (WB) on Tuesday urged African countries to promote innovation and economic transformation so as to create the "much-needed jobs" to Africa's burgeoning youth.

ECA and WB revealed the joint call during a joint ECA-World Bank meeting on jobs and economic transformation in Africa that was held in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa on Tuesday.

"Africa has to innovate if the continent is to create sufficient decent jobs for its growing youthful population," Executive Secretary of the ECA, Vera Songwe, told the joint meeting.

According to Songwe, with Africa's rising population, which is estimated to increase to 1.7 billion by 2030, a growth rate of more than 8 percent per annum is needed to create the least required 120 million jobs for the youth entering the labor market between now and 2030.

"The question around jobs and economic transformation is one that almost every African leader is worrying about," the ECA chief said, as she described the huge unemployment burden the African continent presently faces.

"Immediate action on all fronts is imperative to address the continent's jobs challenge in a structural way," the executive secretary said.

"Africa is growing again but we need to do better and more. It is disheartening every day to see that more Africans are falling into poverty," Songwe said.

Songwe, in particular, singled out innovation's "huge significance" in averting Africa's employment challenges.

"Innovation is a major force for economic growth and development, which is crucial for the continent to create enough jobs for its youth in particular," she said.

"Digitalization is more than ever playing an important role in Africa's economic transformation and has the potential to open opportunities to labor markets, moving beyond markets through the free movement of people," Songwe added.

The ECA chief also underscored digitalization's role in transforming how businesses operate, moving individuals from the informal sector to the formal sector in Africa.

Akihiko Nishio, Vice President for Development Finance at the World Bank, who expressed Africa's employment challenges as "daunting," revealed that Africa will require at least 15 million jobs each year so as to keep pace with its demographics.

"For most developing countries and development institutions like ours, the need for more and better jobs remains a top development priority," Nishio said.

"Failing to deliver good jobs for the growing youth population not only risks squandering the demographic dividend, but raises significant social risks, contributing to fragility and driving young people to migrate abroad in search of better opportunities," Nishio stressed.

According to Nishio, tackling Africa's employment challenges mainly requires economic transformation across the continent, with the support of innovation.

"It means moving workers from lower to higher productivity activities led by a vibrant private sector and supported by public policy actions," he said.

The joint ECA-World Bank high-level meeting on Tuesday, among other things, focused on three topical areas that are digital transformation, trade and global value chains, and human capital for jobs. Enditem

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