Sub‐​Saharan Africa faces three interrelated challenges over the next generation. It will double its population to two billion by 2045. By then, more than half of Africans will be living in the cities. And this group of mostly young people will be connected with each other and with the world through mobile devices. Properly harnessed, Africa’s youth could be a force for economic growth and political change. Without economic growth and jobs, however, Africa’s demographic expansion could prove to be a political and social catastrophe. Old systems of patronage and of muddling through will no longer work. If African leaders want to remain in power, they will have to do more to enable high economic growth rates. Making Africa Work aims to ensure that African growth is based on more than the export of commodities and that it creates jobs on the continent.