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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�鶹APP�s poorest people in 2030 �鶹APP� almost double the current share �鶹APP� 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.

�鶹APP�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,�鶹APP� said Kevin Watkins, ODI��executive director and co-author of the report .

�鶹APP�We�鶹APP�re talking about getting kids into school (and) tackling��the most extreme forms of poverty. This is doable,�鶹APP� 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�鶹APP�s young population is rising rapidly

These graphs shows the world�鶹APP�s actual and projected young populations from 2000 to 2030 in sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and Pacific, South Asia, Latin America and Caribbean �鶹APP� 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 �鶹APP�absolutely central�鶹APP� to��reducing poverty in the region, Watkins said.

�鶹APP�It�鶹APP�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,�鶹APP� he said.

Nigeria was the �鶹APP�hotspot�鶹APP� for the progress on the continent,��Watkins said, noting that Africa�鶹APP�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.

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

Africa�鶹APP�s children will make up almost half of global poor by #2030. New report out now:
�鶹APP� 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.

�鶹APP�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,�鶹APP� he added.

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

�鶹APP�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,�鶹APP� 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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