When we speak about Africa’s future, we are in fact speaking about the continent’s young people, and how the decisions we make today impact tomorrow.

Africa is home to approximately 273 million adolescents. By 2050, that figure is projected to reach 435 million. This significant and rapidly growing age group will determine whether our health systems bend or break, whether our economies prosper or stagnate and whether Africa has the requisite human capital to truly flourish.

We cannot talk about stronger health systems, economic resilience, or sustainable development without prioritizing investment in adolescent health and nutrition. To do otherwise undermines the very foundation on which Africa’s future is being built.

The evidence is clear. We know that iron-deficiency anaemia is one of the leading causes of disability-adjusted life years for adolescents. We know that one in three adolescent girls in Africa is anaemic. We know that anaemia in adolescent girls and women costs the globe an estimated USD $113 billion annually, played out through poor academic performance, absenteeism and lost productivity. These are not abstract figures. They translate into lost potential, constrained opportunity and weakened economies.

We understand the problems. We also know what it takes to create sustainable solutions.

The rapid expansion of Africa’s adolescent population presents a rare window of opportunity. With the right policies, sustained investments in nutrition and coordinated action across sectors, Africa can reap a significant demographic dividend, one that accelerates both human and economic development.

But this will only happen if adolescent health and nutrition are treated as priorities, not afterthoughts.

Across the continent, adolescents face three intersecting nutrition challenges: persistent micronutrient deficiencies, undernutrition alongside rising overweight and obesity, and early pregnancy, which greatly increases the risks of complications for both mother and child. Addressing these challenges requires proven, evidence‑based interventions delivered at scale. This includes integrating nutrition services into schools, strengthening reproductive health education, and improving access to essential micronutrients, such as weekly iron and folic acid supplementation (WIFAS), for adolescent girls.

The recently launched adolescent nutrition framework in The Lancet underscores the urgency and the need for collaboration across policy, programs, research and advocacy. Crucially, it also highlights the importance of centering adolescent voices. Adolescents are not merely beneficiaries of our decisions. They are partners in shaping them, and their perspectives must inform how solutions are designed and delivered.

We are already seeing what is possible. In Tanzania, adolescent girls are becoming better equipped to understand their reproductive health and rights and how those link to nutrition and economic empowerment. In Ethiopia, motivator girls are acting as peer champions in Girls’ Clubs, spreading messages that support menstrual health and staying in school. In Kenya, the dreams and aspirations of individual students are being supported through the integration of nutrition programming into the classroom.

These examples demonstrate that progress is achievable. But they also highlight how more must be done. The pace of our response has not yet caught up with the scale of the challenge, and the cost of inaction is simply too high.

Nutrition International, with support from the Government of Canada and other donors, is proud to serve as a technical ally to governments and local partners, supporting the development and implementation of evidence-based, context-specific policies and programs that are embedded within the broader health and education systems. For too long, adolescent nutrition has remained peripheral in global and regional health agendas. It’s our duty to bring this focus into the foreground and ensure our young people are truly set up to reach their full potential. Ensuring that Africa’s adolescents are well nourished is essential to enabling them to learn, thrive and contribute fully to their communities and economies.

This conversation could not be more timely or more urgent, particularly in the African context, and especially as we gather under this year’s World Health Summit Regional Meeting theme, Reimagining Africa’s Health Systems: Innovation, Integration, and Interdependence. Reimagining our health systems must include elevating adolescent health and nutrition, especially for girls, as a policy, health systems, and investment priority in Africa.

Learn more about our work in Africa.

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