Daniel Yu has launched the $100 million Africa Jobs Fund to tackle poverty through large-scale job creation. Focused on manufacturing, labour mobility, and productivity, the initiative aims to boost incomes, create economic opportunity, and support sustainable growth across Africa.
By: Joseph James Udoh | Columnist | WBN NEWS Africa / Nashville | May 29, 2026
Africa’s unemployment challenge may be receiving one of its most ambitious private-sector interventions yet. Daniel Yu, founder of Wasoko, has launched the Africa Jobs Fund (AJF), a $100 million initiative aimed at creating high-productivity jobs across Sub-Saharan Africa and addressing one of the continent’s most pressing economic issues.
At the heart of the fund is a simple but powerful idea: Africa’s poverty challenge is fundamentally a jobs problem. While investment continues to flow into various sectors, many experts argue that sustainable prosperity depends on creating quality employment opportunities that allow people to earn higher incomes and build long-term economic security.
According to AJF, Africa currently generates only about 3 million formal jobs each year despite having one of the fastest-growing working-age populations in the world. If this trend continues, projections suggest that by 2040, nearly 600 million of the world’s extremely poor people could be living on the continent.
The fund plans to support founders building businesses capable of creating jobs at scale while increasing incomes sustainably. Rather than focusing solely on employment numbers, AJF is targeting sectors that can significantly improve productivity and wages. Key areas of interest include manufacturing, industrial development, and labour mobility.
“Africa’s poverty challenge is fundamentally a jobs problem.”
AJF believes that export manufacturing can play a transformative role by creating employment, strengthening supply chains, encouraging skills transfer, and generating valuable foreign exchange earnings. The fund also highlights the opportunities available through global labour mobility, noting that workers earning around $2,000 annually in local markets could potentially earn significantly more through skilled employment opportunities abroad.
“Persistent poverty is, at its core, a jobs problem.”
The initiative estimates that its investments could generate more than $50 billion in income gains for African workers while more than doubling the lifetime earnings of at least 250,000 low-income individuals.
The fund has also attracted notable advisors, including Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, co-founder of Andela and Flutterwave, and Samantha Power, former USAID administrator and former United States Ambassador to the United Nations.
As Africa searches for sustainable pathways to economic growth, the launch of AJF signals a growing shift toward development strategies centered on productive employment, higher incomes, and long-term opportunity. If successful, the fund could help unlock the potential of hundreds of thousands of workers and contribute to a more prosperous future for communities across the continent.
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Joseph James Udoh is the Editor in Chief for WBN News Africa.
He covers local stories, business insights, and inspiring human-interest topics.
With a background in Computer Science, Theology/Intercultural Studies, and a Honorarium in Human Resource Management, he is passionate about digital empowerment and helping people thrive.
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