Youth unemployment biggest issue for African Union
As the continent celebrates Africa Day next week Monday (May 25), millions of African youths are either unemployed or roaming the streets in search of work.
The formation of the African Union, comprising 53 member states, was aimed at collectively addressing the challenges the continent faces, such as armed conflict, climate change, and poverty.
However 52 years on, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) says that youth unemployment is high, and young people are struggling to get into employment.
The ILO estimates that between 2000 and 2008 Africa created 73 million jobs, but only 16 million for young people aged between 15 and 24. As a result, many young Africans find themselves unemployed or, more frequently, underemployed in informal jobs with low productivity and pay.
According to International Labour Organisation (ILO) report, “Global Unemployment trends for youth 2013 – A Generation at Great Risk”, global youth unemployment is at crisis levels with 12.6% of young people currently unemployed, roughly 73 million youths.
The sub-Saharan African average rate of unemployment was 11.8% in 2012.
But there is a catch: the quality of jobs is said to be of considerable concern, with working poverty and vulnerable employment the highest across all regions.
“In particular, nearly eight out of 10 employed persons in Sub-Saharan Africa were in vulnerable forms of employment. Accordingly, the vulnerable employment rate — the share of own-account workers and unpaid family workers in total employment — was estimated at 76.6% in 2014, significantly higher than the global average of 45.3%,” states the ILO report.
Labour markets in North Africa region have yet to recover from the political instability of 2011, the so-called Arab Spring. As such, unemployment rates in the region continue to be the highest in the world, with the youth unemployment rate at a staggering 29,5% in 2014 and expected to rise to 30% in 2015.
Africa Day
Africa Day is the annual commemoration of the 1963 founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). On this day, leaders of 30 of the 32 independent African states signed a founding charter in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
In 1991, the OAU established the African Economic Community, and in 2002 the OAU established its own successor, the African Union. However, the name and date of Africa Day has been retained as a celebration of African unity.
Africa Day is observed as a public holiday in only five African countries, that is, Ghana, Mali, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. However, celebrations are held in some African countries, as well as by Africans in the diaspora.
