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Wanted: jobs for Africa’s youth - Time For Action

Guest post by: Africa Renewal

Article Overview: Young people (between 15 and 24 years old) made up 63 per cent of the jobless in sub-Saharan Africa in 2003, even though they constituted just 33 per cent of the labour market.

Wanted: jobs for Africa’s youth - Time For Action

From Africa Renewal, Vol.20 #3 (October 2006), page 6

By Gumisai Mutume

Young people (between 15 and 24 years old) made up 63 per cent of the jobless in sub-Saharan Africa in 2003, even though they constituted just 33 per cent of the labour market. Reported unemployment in Africa averages 10 per cent, but unofficially the figures are much higher, with some countries experiencing unemployment rates of more than 40 per cent. In Botswana, 43 per cent of young people were officially unemployed in 1998, compared with 13 per cent of adults. In Zambia, recent estimates had 30 per cent of adults as jobless, compared with 60 per cent of youths. Although the UN defines “youth” as those between 15 and 24 years, in some countries the definition includes those who are as old as 35.

A complex mix of factors contributes to Africa’s unemployment figures. It includes stagnant or sluggish economies that are not growing fast enough to produce jobs for a growing population. Development experts say that Africa’s economy needs to grow by 7 per cent annually in order to cut in half by 2015 the percentage of people living in poverty, a target agreed upon by the international community. Because many countries have weak industries, manufacturing cannot absorb large numbers of the unemployed. Low rates of literacy and educational systems that do not equip young people with the skills required on the job market also fuel unemployment.

A number of long-term national policy options to deal with unemployment have so far been proposed — with limited results. In September 2004, African leaders decided to adopt a continental strategy, known as the Ouagadougou Plan of Action. Endorsed at an African Union (AU) summit on employment in Burkina Faso, the plan calls on countries to diversify their economies into labour-intensive industries, adopt laws that attract investors and create opportunities for women and young workers.

“The Plan of Action is a fine blueprint,” says UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Executive Secretary Abdoulie Janneh. “But we must go beyond the planning stage,” he told the annual conference of African ministers of finance, economic planning and development in Burkina Faso in May 2006. “More than ever, it is up to us to act on our words, embedding the Plan of Action into national development programmes.”

The AU reports that since 2004 progress has been made in some countries. “The Ouagadougou Summit led to the setting in motion of a number of activities in various countries,” says AU Commissioner for Economic Affairs Maxwell Mkwezalamba. For instance, Malian President Amadou Toumani Touré has declared youth employment his first national priority, Ghana has set aside $110 mn in its 2006 budget for a National Youth Employment Programme and, with World Bank assistance, Ethiopia is designing labour market policies to make job creation a core element. Mr. Mkwezalamba reports that Chad and Madagascar, among other countries, have prepared national employment plans, while Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete has directed the labour ministry to identify sectors that could potentially hasten the creation of more than a million jobs annually.

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Article Tags: Africa, AU Commissioner for Economic Affairs Maxwell Mkwezalamba, Burkina Faso, employment, Gumisai Mutume Young, National Youth Employment Programme, Plan of Action, sub Saharan Africa, UN Economic Commission for Africa ECA Executive Secretary Abdoulie Janneh, unemployment, unemployment rates



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