Ten years after adoption of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda by the United Nations, Africa remains far from achieving the goal of taming youth joblessness and many countries are shifting their focus to financing youth enterprises as a means to boost self-employment.

The latest estimates from the Africa Youth Employment Clock, a lobby, indicate that in 2025, about 121 million youth aged 15 to 35 will be unemployed or classified as “not in education, employment, or training (NEETs)” – 2.8 million more than in 2024. This represents 23 percent of this age group, which makes up about 60 percent of the continent’s population.

Compared with 2015, the unemployment rate has worsened, highlighting lack of progress towards the crucial SDG pillar.

Most of the developed world has made strides in the opposite direction.

Countries in East Asia, North America, and Europe have managed to cut youth unemployment from about 21.4 percent in 2015 to less than 15 percent currently, according to the International Labour Organisation.

Read: Region seeks common ground, skills for youth, in new education systemsYet, unlike these developed countries, Africa is experiencing a rise in youth population, compounding the problem. The World Data Lab estimates that Africa will add 132 million youth this decade, while the rest of the world’s youth population will decline by 56 million.

This means that jobs created on the continent cannot suffice for the exponentially growing youth numbers. As such, many countries are starting to pay more attention to tame the age old problem that many scholars have termed a ticking timebomb.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has become a key player in this shift, disbursing a record $577 million in loans and grants last year for youth enterprises and job creation. At least 13 countries, including Tanzania, Somalia, and South Sudan in East Africa, benefited from this funding.

Tanzania received a $130 million loan in September to support youth-led agricultural enterprises, while South Sudan secured a $5 million grant for youth-led businesses.

AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina has emphasised that investing in youth entrepreneurship is not “the riskiest” venture, pledging to increase funding for youth-led initiatives.“We will be putting our risk capital to the benefit of youth. The greatest risk is not investing in youth. The future of Africa is on the continent,” Dr Adesina said last October at the signing of a partnership with the French Development Agency (AFD) to support youth entrepreneurship.

Beyond AfDB-backed initiatives, countries are dedicating significant portions of their budgets to youth enterprises.

Kenya, for example, has launched a $385 million fund to finance small businesses and young entrepreneurs who struggle to access traditional bank loans.

 

Even among employed African youth, job security remains a major concern. According to the ILO, 83.3 percent of young working Africans fear losing their jobs – the highest share globally. Moreover, 80 percent believe there are insufficient economic opportunities in their countries, compared with 44 percent in North America and 47 percent in South Asia.“Entrepreneurship is one solution to address the NEETs challenge, but other factors like ending early marriages, teen pregnancies, and advancing education are equally important,” Dr Fengler noted.

According to him, addressing these social issues that affect women and girls could significantly reduce the number of NEETs, as 65 percent of them are female.

With three in four African youth self-employed, and only 25 percent in wage employment, scaling up support for youth enterprises could substantially improve their livelihoods.

While entrepreneurship alone cannot solve the unemployment crisis, experts contend that it represents a crucial piece of the puzzle in tackling this continent-wide challenge but warn that the other social issues cannot be ignored. © Copyright 2022 Nation Media Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).
Vincent Owino