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A Hamer tribal girl in a classroom in the Ethiopian town of Turmi

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African children will account for more than 40% of the world’s poorest people in 2030 – almost double the current share – unless more is done to improve education and healthcare, a thinktank said today.

One in five children in sub-Saharan Africa, or nearly 148��million, will be living on less than $1.90 a day in 2030, the��deadline set by the world leaders to eliminate extreme poverty,��the United Kingdom-based Overseas Development Institute (ODI) said in a report.

“This prospect of 40% plus of world poverty in 2030��being African children is one that I think should focus the��minds of the international community,” said Kevin Watkins, ODI��executive director and co-author of the report .

“We’re talking about getting kids into school (and) tackling��the most extreme forms of poverty. This is doable,” he told the��Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from Italy.

By 2030, ODI estimates that 88% of all children��living on $1.90 a day will be in sub-Saharan Africa, up from��some 50% today.

How Africa’s young population is rising rapidly

These graphs shows the world’s actual and projected young populations from 2000 to 2030 in sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and Pacific, South Asia, Latin America and Caribbean – with steady increases in Africa

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To reduce poverty, extreme inequality and change demographic��patterns in sub-Saharan Africa, investment was needed in cash��transfers, education and healthcare, ODI said.

Education, in particular, was “absolutely central” to��reducing poverty in the region, Watkins said.

“It’s through education (people) gain skills, girls are more��likely to go into marriage later and women secure confidence to��demand healthcare and reproductive care,” he said.

Nigeria was the “hotspot” for the progress on the continent,��Watkins said, noting that Africa’s most populous country with��188 million people has the largest number of children out of��school and some of the biggest gender gaps in education.

“Unless the picture improves in Nigeria, it’s almost��guaranteed that sub-Saharan Africa as a region will be pulled��off track,” Watkins said.

Africa’s children will make up almost half of global poor by #2030. New report out now:
— ODI (@ODIdev)

Despite the challenges, sub-Saharan Africa has chalked up��many economic gains over the past few years and recorded��significant progress in child survival, Watkins said.

“This is now a part of the world that is in the fast lane of��economic growth. There are more democracies in Africa than have��ever been,” he added.

However, African leaders need to invest in the youth and end��harmful practices such as child marriage.

“Now is the time for African leaders to step up on the plate��on these gender inequalities that are preventing young girls and��young women from exercising choice and realising their��potential,” Watkins said.

In sub-Saharan Africa, more than a tenth of girls are��married by 15 and four in 10 are married by 18, according to��the Population Council, a United States.-based non-profit organisation.

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