World leaders are gathering in Doha this week for the Second World Summit on Social Development (WSSD2), three decades after the first Summit in Copenhagen. For Africa, this gathering is not a commemorative moment, but a pivotal opportunity to rally partners towards social development that can be built to last in a rapidly changing world.

Why this Summit matters for Africa?

Over the past thirty years, Africa has made progress in reducing extreme poverty, expanding education, and improving health outcomes. Today, 31 African countries are at middle income status (both lower-middle and upper-middle-income countries). Yet, the continent still faces persistent challenges: climate shocks, economic volatility, youth unemployment, and inequality. The question today is no longer only how to lift people out of poverty, but to ensure that people prosper, and that prosperity is sustainable and resistant to shocks. This requires a shift in development approaches.

The Second Summit is a platform for UNDP and African leaders to present a different approach: one where countries recognize that development is strongest when it is systemic, integrated, and inclusive, rather than fragmented or reactive. This approach connects social protection, productive opportunities, governance, and financing into a coherent whole.

What is at stake in Doha?

• Empowering informal economies
  In Africa, roughly 85% of the workforce operates in informal jobs, from market vendors and small-scale farmers to artisans and gig workers. This sector has traditionally been seen as vulnerable and outside formal economic planning. But today, governments and development partners are rethinking that approach, recognizing informality as a source of productivity, innovation, and growth. Tools like digital payment platforms, simplified business registration, and accessible finance allow entrepreneurs to scale their activities and integrate into regional markets. Through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), UNDP supports women entrepreneurs to access new markets, build cross-border value chains, and benefit from trade opportunities once out of reach, helping them move from local to continental economies. Initiatives such as UNDP’s timbuktoo, a bold pan-African innovation and startup initiative connecting universities, investors, and governments to nurture Africa’s next generation of entrepreneurs, demonstrate how targeted support helps youth and women shift from small-scale survival to high-value, scalable enterprises, turning informality into a foundation for sustained economic opportunity.
• Harnessing natural resources for shared prosperity
  Africa holds 30% of the world’s mineral reserves and 60% of its arable land, yet historically, resource wealth has often benefited a narrow few. The challenge now is to turn natural wealth into broad-based social and economic opportunity. By connecting local businesses to regional and continental value chains through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), by investing in supplier development, or by promoting green energy projects, countries like Ghana, Namibia, and Mozambique are trying to ensure that communities, not just corporations, benefit from resource exploitation. Strengthened regional cooperation and integration also enable countries to pool expertise, harmonize standards, and create larger, more resilient markets. Inclusive management of natural resources not only generates jobs and develops skills but also builds public revenue that can be reinvested in education, infrastructure, and social services, laying the groundwork for long-term, shared prosperity.
• Financing and governance
  With public budgets under pressure, African countries are pioneering integrated and innovative financing solutions to drive development. UNDP’s work on credit ratings is helping over 30 African governments - many of them middle-income countries - strengthen their fiscal credibility and access more affordable, sustainable financing for long-term investment in their own economic growth. Initiatives like Integrated National Financing Frameworks bring together domestic revenues, private sector investment, and climate funds to support coordinated development priorities. Community-based instruments, such as Awqaf, channel local capital toward social projects like schools, clinics, and enterprise development. But financing alone is not enough: strong governance ensures these resources reach their intended targets. Participatory planning, transparent spending, and accountability mechanisms reinforce trust, making social development systems both effective and credible.
• Protecting people in times of crisis
  Africa’s vulnerability to climate shocks, price fluctuations, and displacement makes adaptive social protection essential. Increasingly, countries are harnessing technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to anticipate risks and deliver faster, smarter responses. In Kenya and Ethiopia, for example, AI-driven early-warning systems analyze weather patterns, market data, and satellite imagery to trigger support before crises hit, rather than reacting afterward. Mobile platforms and digital ID systems ensure that assistance reaches the right people quickly and transparently. By linking social protection to skills training and local value chains, countries are turning short-term relief into long-term empowerment. Households receive the support they need while also gaining tools to strengthen their livelihoods, boosting resilience and reducing the risk that temporary shocks push families back into poverty.

The broader implications

Africa is the youngest continent in the world, with over 400 million youth poised to shape global innovation, work, and markets. How social development systems are designed now will determine whether these young people become engines of growth or face limited opportunity. The Doha Summit provides a global stage for Africa to show that prosperity can be engineered, rather than hoped for.

The stakes are clear: if social protection, productivity, governance, and financing remain fragmented, progress will remain fragile. But if they are integrated, Africa can demonstrate a model of resilient, inclusive, and sustainable prosperity, one that other regions may learn from in the years ahead.

In Doha, Africa is not just seeking support, it is offering solutions. The message is simple: we need to focus on building prosperity as a system, and with greater collaboration, we can build resilient, inclusive societies where people don’t escape poverty anymore but stay above it.