THE African Economic Outlook 2012, released this week, shows that 60 per cent of the continent’s unemployed people are youth. Of the 40 million unemployed youth, more than half are female who have given up the search for jobs.
THE African Economic Outlook 2012, released this week, shows that 60 per cent of the continent’s unemployed people are youth. Of the 40 million unemployed youth, more than half are female who have given up the search for jobs.The number of youth in Africa is set to double by 2045, thus a risk of exerting more pressure on the continent’s political stability if the challenge of unemployment is not addressed – as was witnessed during the Arab Spring.The report further points to a sharp skills mismatch as one of the key challenges to youth employment, indicating that Rwanda has a skills gap of 40 per cent in addition to the limited job growth and expansion.With forecasts suggesting that the continent is set to maintain a positive economic performance, it is important for policy makers and development partners to pursue and support strategies that will ensure that the economic growth translates into more jobs for the youth.The African Economic Outlook 2012 is a joint publication by the African Development Bank (AfDB), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), OECD Development Centre and UNDP.