Why have so many influential people gathered in a ski town in Switzerland? Here’s your Davos 101.

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359182-1705386557810-gettyimages-1806666171-CHINA_HEFEI_VANKE-820x547.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-447409" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359182-1705386557810-gettyimages-1806666171-CHINA_HEFEI_VANKE-820x547.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359182-1705386557810-gettyimages-1806666171-CHINA_HEFEI_VANKE-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359182-1705386557810-gettyimages-1806666171-CHINA_HEFEI_VANKE-135x90.jpeg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359182-1705386557810-gettyimages-1806666171-CHINA_HEFEI_VANKE-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359182-1705386557810-gettyimages-1806666171-CHINA_HEFEI_VANKE-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359182-1705386557810-gettyimages-1806666171-CHINA_HEFEI_VANKE-scaled.jpeg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Construction at China Vanke Co.’s Isle Maison development in Hefei, China, on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



BEIJING — China missed fourth-quarter GDP estimates on Wednesday, while it resumed reporting the unemployment rate for young people.



GDP for the last three months of 2023 rose by 5.2%, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics. That’s below the 5.3% growth forecast in a Reuters poll.



GDP growth for the full year was also 5.2%, compared with a 3% increase in 2022.



“Macro data from 2023 shows China’s economy is going through a transition to a new growth model,” Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, said in a note.



“With investment in the property sector falling, the economy is more dependent on the manufacturing sector and service sector,” he said. “This transition will take time to be accomplished. The key question in the market is when the transition in the property sector will finish.”



Property prices in 70 major Chinese cities fell by 0.4% in December from the prior month, maintaining a pace of decline not seen since 2015, according to data released Wednesday and analysis using Wind Information.



Real estate, which makes up well over 20% of China’s economy, has seen a government crackdown on developers’ high reliance on debt for growth.



Investment into real estate fell by 9.6% in 2023, while those into infrastructure and manufacturing rose by 5.9% and 6.5%, respectively.



Overall, fixed asset investment for 2023 rose by 3%, a touch above the predicted 2.9% increase.



China’s property sector is in a process of “adjustment and transformation,” Kang Yi, director of the statistics bureau, told reporters in Mandarin, translated by CNBC.



Looking ahead to 2024, he said the economy faces a number of challenges including insufficient domestic demand, overcapacity in some industries and weak expectations about the future.



Kang said authorities needed to respond to those difficulties in accordance with the directives from China’s top leaders in an annual meeting last month.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-youth-unemployment-remains-high"><a></a>Youth unemployment remains high</h2>



The statistics bureau on Wednesday also resumed reporting figures on youth unemployment.



Excluding people still in school, the unemployment rate for young people aged 16 to 24 was 14.9%, while the rate in cities in December was 5.1%.



The bureau had temporarily suspended the release of the younger age group’s unemployment rate in summer, citing the need to reassess calculation methods. That unemployment rate had previously climbed to records above 20%.



The statistics bureau said&nbsp;China’s&nbsp;population shrunk by more than 2 million people to 1.41 billion in 2023 from the prior year. The population had declined by 850,000 people in 2022 from 2021.



“The improvement [in youth unemployment] is a bit surprising to me, but I can see that it is a result of government efforts and not so much economic fundamentals,” Dan Wang, chief economist at Hang Seng Bank, said Wednesday on CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia.”



“High income jobs have been difficult to find, but lower-skilled work has not been difficult to find in 2023,” she said.



Uncertainty about future income has weighed on consumption.



Retail sales rose 7.4% in December from a year earlier, missing expectations for an 8% growth. They rose by 7.2% for the full year.



December saw a 29% surge in jewelry and 26% increase in purchases of clothes and shoes.



Sales of daily necessities,&nbsp;medicine, cultural and office products,&nbsp;as well as construction-related materials fell in December.



China had abruptly ended its Covid-19 controls in December 2022 and people had rushed to buy medicine amid widespread illness that month.



Industrial production rose by 6.8% in December from a year earlier, beating forecasts for 6.6% growth.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Questions about stimulus</h2>



The economic data was as the market generally expected and already priced in, said Bruce Pang, chief economist and head of research for Greater China at JLL.



He said there’s uncertainty over how much stimulus Beijing will choose to pursue, and how authorities will balance short- and long-term risks. Pang said China will likely focus on fiscal support this year.



The statistics bureau indicated in a release Wednesday that as a part of economic support, Chinese authorities would work to improve policy coordination among different regulatory bodies.



“We must effectively enhance economic vitality, prevent and mitigate risks, improve social expectations,&nbsp;consolidate and boost the sound momentum of economic recovery and growth,” the bureau said, “in a bid to effectively upgrade the quality and appropriately expand the quantity of the national economy.”



China ended its stringent Covid-19 controls in late 2022, but its rebound from the pandemic wasn’t as fast as several economists had expected at the start of 2023.



This year, unless there are significant stimulus measures, China’s GDP growth could slow to 4.6% from 5.2% in 2023, according to an average of five investment firms’ forecasts compiled by CNBC.



“Monetary and fiscal policy last year was actually quite conservative. Given that we (China) is in such an economic downturn, we should have seen lower interest rates and more fiscal money spending in all levels of government,” Hang Seng Bank’s Wang said.



Chinese Premier Li Qiang in speech on Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos noted that “in promoting economic development, we did not resort to massive stimulus. We did not seek short-term growth while accumulating long-term risks.”



“Rather, we focused on strengthening the internal drivers,” he said.



The statistics bureau also said Wednesday that retail sales in services surged by 20% in 2023 from a year ago.



Online retail sales of physical goods rose by 8.4%, accounting for nearly 28% of overall retail sales.



Analysis of digital payments transactions by BigOne Lab found the low-income segment — earning 5,000 yuan ($700) or less — rapidly increased their average spending per person in 2023 from a year ago.



The low income segment is mostly made up of young people ages 18 to 24, the report said.



That contrasts with the high-income segment — making 10,000 yuan ($1,400) or more a month — whose spending tapered off in the second half of 2023.



— CNBC’s Shreyashi Sanyal contributed to this report.

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China misses fourth-quarter GDP estimates, resumes posting youth unemployment data

How Qualcomm is betting big on AI and auto to hold onto wireless dominance #Shorts

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359263-1705399057421-gettyimages-1928724181-DAVOS_WEF_2024-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-447150" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359263-1705399057421-gettyimages-1928724181-DAVOS_WEF_2024-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359263-1705399057421-gettyimages-1928724181-DAVOS_WEF_2024-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359263-1705399057421-gettyimages-1928724181-DAVOS_WEF_2024-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359263-1705399057421-gettyimages-1928724181-DAVOS_WEF_2024-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359263-1705399057421-gettyimages-1928724181-DAVOS_WEF_2024-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359263-1705399057421-gettyimages-1928724181-DAVOS_WEF_2024.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Steve Sedgwick, anchor for CNBC, Gita Gopinath, first deputy managing director of International Monetary Fund (IMF), Francois Villeroy de Galhau, governor of the Bank of France, Adena Friedman, chief executive officer of Nasdaq Inc., and Chuck Robbins, chief executive officer of Cisco Technologies Inc., left to right, during a panel session on the opening day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Around three quarters of the effects of tighter monetary policy have already fed through to the U.S. economy, according to an analysis by the International Monetary Fund.



“We have to recognize that there has been a lot of resilience in the economy despite the rate hikes that we have seen &#8230; our estimate is that for the U.S. about three quarters, or 75%, of the transmission has already gone through, and the rest will go through this year,” the IMF’s Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath said at a CNBC-moderated panel at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday.



There is more transmission still to feed through in the euro area, where interest rate hikes started later, she said.



The U.S. economy has maintained stronger growth than was widely expected since interest rates began rising in March 2022, though several strategists have spoken of a potential recession this year. The euro zone economy, meanwhile, has fallen into stagnation. The European Central Bank began hiking in July 2022.



“What is universally true is we have households and corporations with stronger balance sheets. And we’ve seen effects, but we’ve also seen resilience,” Gopinath said on the panel.



“Labor markets are slowing but at a much more gradual pace. Which is why I think at the IMF we feel that a soft landing scenario, the probabilities have come up quite a bit, because inflation has come down without needing that much of a loss in terms of economic activity.”



François Villeroy de Galhau, governor of France’s central bank, noted on the same panel that there were two lags in transmission: from monetary policy decisions to financial conditions, and from financial conditions to the real economy.



“About the first lag, I think the transmission is more or less over,” he said. “In Europe, what is key is the transmission through banks, because as you know, the bank credit channel is about two thirds or three quarters in Europe, much more than in the U.S.”



“What is more difficult is the second lag &#8230; here it’s much more difficult to assess, and it strongly depends on various sectors. If I take real estate for instance, I think most of the transmission has happened already because it’s very sensitive to interest rates. For other sectors, we will see,” de Galhau added.

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U.S. economy has already seen 75% of the impact from Fed’s hikes, IMF says

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="462" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359389-1705410175678-107359389-1705409992296-1J7A9540-820x462.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-447146" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359389-1705410175678-107359389-1705409992296-1J7A9540-820x462.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359389-1705410175678-107359389-1705409992296-1J7A9540-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359389-1705410175678-107359389-1705409992296-1J7A9540-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359389-1705410175678-107359389-1705409992296-1J7A9540-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359389-1705410175678-107359389-1705409992296-1J7A9540.jpg 929w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Adena Friedman, CEO &amp; Board Chair NASDAQ, speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box at the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 16th, 2024. Adam Galici | CNBC</figcaption></figure>



Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman believes the Federal Reserve should be wary of cutting interest rates too soon.



Speaking at a CNBC-moderated panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Friedman said Tuesday that while “there are a lot of signals that would say that there should be rate [cuts] as we go through the year, the question is when they would start. And if I were the Fed, I would be a little concerned about starting too early.”



She explained that while inflation was heading in the “right direction of travel,” the Fed would also expect this to moderate, making it harder to bring rates down.



Friedman said that the U.S. central bank “also want to make sure that they feel that they’ve gotten to a state of stability around the rate before they start making significant moves in the interest rate space.”



The Fed held rates steady in December for the third time in a row, keeping the benchmark overnight borrowing rate in a targeted range between 5.25%-5.5%. Federal Open Market Committee members indicated that three rate cuts could be on the cards in 2024.



Between March 2022 and July 2023, the FOMC enacted a run of 11 rate hikes to combat spiraling inflation.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-more-confidence-in-the-market">‘More confidence in the market’</h2>



As markets look to predict when interest rates might be cut and when the cost of capital might fall, she said that investors could start to think about how they model company earnings in the future more successfully.



In addition, knowing that inflation is coming down and that the cost of business is moderating, would also give companies more confidence, Friedman said.



“So I think all of that builds more confidence in the market, which of course does show up in the market values,” she said.



Friedman said that while market performance was “top heavy” last year, a broader-based improvement in valuations was emerging, including in lesser-valued companies.



“I think that’ll also drive an interest in investors wanting to put risk capital to work, which means … we could actually have the IPO (initial public offering) market open back up again,” she said, adding that around 85 companies had filed to go public on the Nasdaq.

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Fed should be a ‘little concerned’ about starting rate cuts too early, Nasdaq CEO says

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359206-1705390771913-gettyimages-1401710154-_skm8951-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-447057" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359206-1705390771913-gettyimages-1401710154-_skm8951-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359206-1705390771913-gettyimages-1401710154-_skm8951-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359206-1705390771913-gettyimages-1401710154-_skm8951-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359206-1705390771913-gettyimages-1401710154-_skm8951-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359206-1705390771913-gettyimages-1401710154-_skm8951-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107359206-1705390771913-gettyimages-1401710154-_skm8951.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Skaman306 | Moment | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



DAVOS, SWITZERLAND — The slew of upcoming global elections could derail international efforts to secure long-term food supplies, according to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).



President Alvaro Lario told CNBC that is short-term politics will likely dominate over longer-term strategy in the bumper election year of 2024, causing major issues like food security to fall by the wayside.



“It’s going to be a challenging year. Almost half of the governments in the world are going to go through elections,” Lario said Monday at the World Economic Forum in Davos.



“That’s only going to increase the polarization and probably the simpler messages, rather than the complexity of really addressing the change of these food systems,” the head of the U.N. special agency added.



Around two billion people are set to head to the polls this year in a historic series of elections spanning 70 countries. Front of mind for voters will be the economy and ongoing global conflicts, as well as issues like the green transition and its local implications.



Lario noted that growing pushback against climate policies — often known as “greenlash” — has already begun to dominate political discourse, undermining already precarious food systems.



“It’s getting more complex because we’re seeing a lot of the small-scale agriculture producers in Europe, for example, getting impacted by this transition, and how they can finance it. So, even in the local politics, it’s going to become more complex,” he said.



Despite the complexity, Lario said it is the role of organizations such as IFAD to “continue banging at the door” of the public and private sector to bolster investment in programs that tackle the root causes of food insecurity. Those include actions which enable more local food production, greater integration of regional markets and further crop diversification.



Lario said such investment had become all the more important in the face of rising global tensions.



“With an increasing number of conflicts and situations of fragility, it’s very clear that the situation will only get worse given that we are not really tackling the root causes,” he said.



“We thought after the Ukraine shock that [tackling the root causes] was going to be a given, and there was a lot of momentum. But now we’re seeing the momentum once more diluting because the number of conflicts just increases and the attention goes once more to the humanitarian aspect,” he added.



It is estimated that around one in 10 people globally suffer from food insecurity or reliable access to nutritious food, according to UNICEF.

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2024′s wave of elections predicted to derail food security progress

Can the U.S. compete with Chinese drones? #Shorts

What is the World Economic Forum? | CNBC Explains

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="462" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107335577-1700224254491-gettyimages-1203899187-urn_newsml_dpa_com_20090101_200228-99-115840-2-820x462.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-446727" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107335577-1700224254491-gettyimages-1203899187-urn_newsml_dpa_com_20090101_200228-99-115840-2-820x462.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107335577-1700224254491-gettyimages-1203899187-urn_newsml_dpa_com_20090101_200228-99-115840-2-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107335577-1700224254491-gettyimages-1203899187-urn_newsml_dpa_com_20090101_200228-99-115840-2-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107335577-1700224254491-gettyimages-1203899187-urn_newsml_dpa_com_20090101_200228-99-115840-2-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107335577-1700224254491-gettyimages-1203899187-urn_newsml_dpa_com_20090101_200228-99-115840-2.jpeg 929w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Boris Roessler | Picture Alliance | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



The majority of economists surveyed by the World Economic Forum expect the global economy to weaken this year, saying that geopolitical fragmentation around the world will deepen.



“Global economic prospects remain subdued and fraught with uncertainty,” WEF’s report, published Monday, said.



“While there are positive developments, such as easing inflationary pressures and advances in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), businesses and policy-makers face persistent headwinds and continued volatility as global economic activity remains slow, financial conditions remain tight and geopolitical rifts and social strains continue to grow.”



The survey of 30 chief economists between November and December last year found that 56% of those questioned expect the global economy to weaken in 2024, while 20% expect it to remain unchanged and 23% forecast “somewhat stronger” economic conditions.



The International Monetary Fund, meanwhile, expects global economic growth to fall slightly in 2024 to 2.9%, from 3% last year.



WEF’s survey shows significant divergence among economists’ expectations for different economies, with the experts most bearish on Europe’s prospects. Some 77% of those surveyed expect growth in the region to weaken this year — that’s almost double the figure recorded in September’s survey.



The economists also turned more negative on the U.S.’s outlook. In the previous survey, 78% forecast moderate or higher growth this year, whereas the latest research sees that number fall to 56%.



Respondents were broadly positive and unchanged on their outlooks for South Asia, and East Asia and the Pacific, but struck a more cautious tone on China, with the majority (69%) now expecting only moderate economic growth.



Of particular concern to the economists was geopolitical rifts, with 69% of economists saying they expect the pace of geopolitical fragmentation to accelerate in 2024.



“When asked about the implications of recent developments … chief economists continue assigning a prominent role to geopolitical factors across macroeconomic and financial developments,” the report said.



“About 87% expect recent geopolitical developments to stoke global economic volatility in the next three years, and eight out of ten expect it to heighten volatility in stock markets.”



It comes after a year of heightened geopolitical tensions, with Russia’s war in Ukraine continuing, China-U.S. relations remaining fraught, and fears of a broader conflict in the Middle East due to the war between Israel and Hamas.



2024 is also a year that will see an unprecedented number of people vote in elections, with over 75 countries — including major economies like the U.S. and U.K. — heading to the polls.



A more positive outcome of WEF’s survey of economists was inflation expectations, with a loosening of financial conditions expected by 70% of respondents.



Economists’ expectations of high inflation fell across all regions, with particular improvement seen in Europe and the U.S., although the report notes that two-thirds of those surveyed still expect moderate inflation in both regions.

107335577-1700224254491-gettyimages-1203899187-urn_newsml_dpa_com_20090101_200228-99-115840-2

Top economists predict global growth will weaken this year as geopolitical rifts grow

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="462" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107358866-1705312997763-gettyimages-1925287828-DAVOS_WEF_2024-820x462.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-446709" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107358866-1705312997763-gettyimages-1925287828-DAVOS_WEF_2024-820x462.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107358866-1705312997763-gettyimages-1925287828-DAVOS_WEF_2024-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107358866-1705312997763-gettyimages-1925287828-DAVOS_WEF_2024-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107358866-1705312997763-gettyimages-1925287828-DAVOS_WEF_2024-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107358866-1705312997763-gettyimages-1925287828-DAVOS_WEF_2024.jpeg 929w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A pedestrian walks past the TATA pop up store with a poster reading ‘The Future is AI’ ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024. The annual Davos gathering of political leaders, top executives and celebrities runs from January 15 to 19. Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg via Getty Images Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



The International Monetary Fund warned that nearly 40% of jobs across the globe could be affected by the rise of artificial intelligence, with high-income economies facing greater risks than emerging markets and low-income countries.



The Washington, D.C.-based institution on Sunday assessed the potential impact of AI on the global labor market and found that, in most cases, the technology is likely to worsen overall inequality.



IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva urged policymakers to tackle this “troubling trend” and to proactively take steps “to prevent the technology from further stoking social tensions.”



“We are on the brink of a technological revolution that could jumpstart productivity, boost global growth and raise incomes around the world. Yet it could also replace jobs and deepen inequality,” Georgieva said.



The IMF noted that about 60% of jobs could be impacted by AI in high-income nations, and roughly half of these may benefit from AI integration to boost productivity.



Comparatively, AI exposure was estimated to come in at 40% in emerging markets and at 26% in low-income countries, respectively.



The findings suggest that emerging markets and low-income countries face fewer disruptions from AI in the short-term. The IMF notes that many of these nations don’t have the infrastructure of skilled workers to harness the immediate benefits of AI, raising the risk that the tech could worsen inequality.



The IMF also flagged that AI could affect income and wealth inequality within countries, warning of “polarization within income brackets.”



It said workers who are able to access the benefits of AI could increase their productivity and salary, while those who cannot are at risk of falling further behind.



Goldman Sachs has previously warned generative AI could impact as many as 300 million jobs worldwide, although the Wall Street bank acknowledged the technology could spur labor productivity and growth and boost gross domestic product by as much as 7%.



The IMF report comes as business and political leaders from around the world gather at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The annual WEF meeting, which runs through to Friday, takes place under the theme of “Rebuilding Trust.”



WEF says the Davos program embodies a “back to basics” spirit of open and constructive dialogue between policymakers, business leaders and civil society, with the benefits and drawbacks of AI expected to be a key topic of discussion. The event has been criticized in recent years for being out of touch, ineffective and irrelevant.

107358866-1705312997763-gettyimages-1925287828-DAVOS_WEF_2024

IMF warns AI to hit almost 40% of jobs worldwide and worsen overall inequality

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="462" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107349589-17030092002023-12-19t165131z_1341710505_rc2g05a9etw3_rtrmadp_0_ukraine-crisis-zelenskiy-820x462.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-446662" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107349589-17030092002023-12-19t165131z_1341710505_rc2g05a9etw3_rtrmadp_0_ukraine-crisis-zelenskiy-820x462.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107349589-17030092002023-12-19t165131z_1341710505_rc2g05a9etw3_rtrmadp_0_ukraine-crisis-zelenskiy-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107349589-17030092002023-12-19t165131z_1341710505_rc2g05a9etw3_rtrmadp_0_ukraine-crisis-zelenskiy-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107349589-17030092002023-12-19t165131z_1341710505_rc2g05a9etw3_rtrmadp_0_ukraine-crisis-zelenskiy-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107349589-17030092002023-12-19t165131z_1341710505_rc2g05a9etw3_rtrmadp_0_ukraine-crisis-zelenskiy.jpeg 929w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy holds a press conference, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 19, 2023.  Alina Smutko | Reuters</figcaption></figure>



Ukraine pushed ahead with its peace formula to end nearly two years of war with Russia with a meeting of national security advisers from around the world in Davos on Sunday.



Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is scheduled to address the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos later in the week, was not in the opening morning session, which included 81 participants from countries and international organisations.



Zelenskyy was represented by his chief of staff Andriy Yermak at Sunday’s talks, which were also attended by the U.S. special representative for Ukraine’s Economic Recovery Penny Pritzker, as well as James O’Brien, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.



As concerns grow about ongoing U.S. support for the war in Ukraine during an election year, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are both expected to address the WEF, which officially starts on Monday evening.



Switzerland, which hosted the NSA representatives, said the Ukraine peace talks aimed to finalise principles “for a lasting and just peace in Ukraine” at the level of national security advisers. The principles, it said in a statement last week, should form the basis for the next stages of the peace process.



The role of the Global South in Ukraine’s peace formula talks has come into focus in Davos. Many of the non-aligned countries from Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia that have largely stayed on the sidelines over Ukraine will be represented in the Swiss mountain resort this week.



Nigeria’s national security adviser Nuhu Ribadu could be seen attending the NSA meeting. Yermak said that there were participants from 18 Asian countries, 12 African countries and 6 South American countries.



“Countries from the Global South are increasingly involved in our work,” Yermak said on his Telegram account.



Ukraine, with strong backing from its allies, has consistently said it will not give up until it has reclaimed every piece of territory that Russia has taken.



It is unclear, however, if countries in the Global South agree with that as a peace formula.

107349589-17030092002023-12-19t165131z_1341710505_rc2g05a9etw3_rtrmadp_0_ukraine-crisis-zelenskiy

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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="462" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107356664-1704897343986-Untitled-2-820x462.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-445368" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107356664-1704897343986-Untitled-2-820x462.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107356664-1704897343986-Untitled-2-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107356664-1704897343986-Untitled-2-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107356664-1704897343986-Untitled-2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/107356664-1704897343986-Untitled-2.jpg 929w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Combination showing Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI (L), Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission (C), and Javier Milei, President of Argentina (R). Reuters</figcaption></figure>



The global elite are pulling on their snow boots and firing up their private jets for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.



The 2024 WEF, titled “Rebuilding Trust,” runs Jan. 14-19. Hanging over the event is the sharp escalation in geopolitical tensions and global trade concerns in the Middle East. Meanwhile, inflation and economic growth, the war in Ukraine, technological change and global fragmentation will all remain on the agenda.



Perhaps the most heavyweight political figures set to be in attendance are China’s second-in-command Li Qiang, and French President Emmanuel Macron, who will both give special addresses.



Macron is the only G7 leader heading to the Swiss mountain resort, while last year only Germany’s Olaf Scholz was there from the alliance. Some have suggested politicians are increasingly wary of attending the event amid the ongoing cost of living crisis and with issues to tackle at home.



Joe Biden has not attended since he became U.S. president; nor has the U.K.’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.



But a host of other leaders and finance ministers are set to go this year, from Spain, Belgium, Colombia, Iraq, Lebanon, Ireland, Kenya, Nigeria, Thailand, Singapore and beyond.



From the U.S., attendees include Secretary of State Antony Blinken; national security advisor Jake Sullivan; and Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry.



Sullivan is likely to attend the latest meeting of the “National Security Advisers on Ukraine,” with a press conference to be held Sunday, which will cover the 10-point peace plan drawn up by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The plan has been much-discussed by international observers but dismissed by Russian leadership.



Argentinian President Javier Milei may raise eyebrows among the establishment with his planned Wednesday address. The newly-inaugurated right-wing firebrand has already sparked protests at home against a series of shock economic policies, including a sharp currency devaluation. He has also pledged to dollarize the economy and abolish the central bank.



Among the big names from the business world, many will undoubtedly be keen to hear from Sam Altman, reinstalled CEO of ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, who is scheduled to discuss safety and trust in technology alongside panelists including U.K. Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.



Top figures from the global economy will as usual make appearances, from International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, to World Bank President Ajay S. Banga, and World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.



Likewise, the heads from international bodies and civil society groups will be out in force, including the U.N.’s António Guterres, NATO’s Jens Stoltenberg, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of the World Health Organization, and Tirana Hassan of Human Rights Watch.

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