They say the reason for this is that the youth employment challenges in Africa are often associated with rapid population growth rates. Sub-Saharan Africa has the fastest population growth and the highest youth population in the world. They say it is crucial to factor this "youth bulge" into national and social planning. The youth bulge has not created an even unemployment rate, but it is structural issues specific to individual countries that is causing this. Africa doesn't have a high level of youth unemployment however, due to the size of the continent, different degrees of urbanization and shifts in economic activities, it is difficult to generalize.
South Africa having almost 50% of unemployed youth, has one of the highest levels of youth unemployment in the region however, Rwanda has one of the lowest. Although a growing youth population is a challenge, it can not fully explain the unemployment. Lack of investment and education are responsible for this. These issues predate the youth bulge.
Levels of education in Africa are comparatively low, creating a gap among youth at working age. According to the African Development Bank, 25% of African youths are still illiterate and despite a rise in primary school enrollment from 60% in 2000 to 77% in 2011, the issue of low skill levels will continue to be a problem. Young people today happen to be more educated than their elders, this hasn't helped them with getting a job. The youth remain almost twice as likely to be unemployed than their parents. This is basically because of a mismatch between their skills and what is required for available employment opportunities.
With rising numbers of people, small initiatives around the country are not going to help solve this youth unemployment problem and the difficulties that come with it. The young people need to gain genuine education and skills training but crucially their ambitions need to be matched with opportunities. For example, in Tanzania, there is now a higher unemployment rate amongst individuals who have received secondary education. As populations expand, an effort needs to start being made to avoid these problems for the youth and lack of growth. African countries need to start addressing these issues.
Website Link: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/jul/11/africa-youth-unemployment-population-growth
Reading your article I remembered the first article I wrote about. Again, it talked about school and not teaching what the children "really" need to know. Further than just what they are learning in school, they talked about starting organizations to help students learn the skills they need, skills companies are looking for in their future workers. Like you said, African countries do need to start addressing these issues. A good way is to keep spreading these originations until soon they can be offered to everyone. Until reading your blog I thought that student should be offered these skills in school before they even get a change to taste the real world. But maybe that's not the schools responsibility, students should be able to take it upon themselves to help themselves, such as partaking in the originations.
ReplyDeleteYouth employment is the most important. They are starting their life and need the money to do it. Whether they are paying for a college education or helping support their family, they need a good amount of money. It is pretty sad that about 50% of African's youth are unemployed. The government should stop worrying about the school's enrollment number and start worrying about the skills their students need to learn.
ReplyDeleteI agree youth unemployment is most important and the government should be focusing on them the most. They are young children who are soon to be adults and not only need the experience, but need the money. The government should start paying more attention to them and focusing on fixing that problem instead of worrying about less important things. Take on one thing at a time.
ReplyDeleteI also wrote about this , the problem here is that there is too many workers and not enough jobs. There needs to be more jobs available and there's not. I completely agree Nikki. These young people are going to be adults soon , and that means they are going to need a real job and make money. They will have families to support and things to pay for. And at the rate Africa is going now , how are they even going to make a living in the near future?
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