Governments need to encourage entrepreneurship and provide job-focused training to help the millions of young unemployed people on the continent, says OECD
This is a tough time to be young in Africa. Although the growth prospects of the continent are good - growth rate estimates are 4.8% in 2013 and 5.3% in 2014 - 40 million young people are estimated to be out of work and many more in poor employment .
The African Economic Outlook estimates that 53 million of Africa's 200 million young people between the ages of 15 and 24 are in unstable employment and 40 million young Africans are out of work. However, while 18 million of them are looking for a job, 22 million have already given up.
Working with the Gallup world poll to collate household data for 37 countries, partners in the African Economic Outlook also found that only a minority of young working Africans have a 'good' job. Wage employment in the formal sector concerns only 7% of youth in low income countries (LICs) and 10% in middle-income countries (MICs). Others fall in categories defined by International Labour Organisation (ILO) as 'vulnerable employment', including self-employment and unpaid work (such as family farming). And while self-employment may not be bad per se, in the overwhelming majority of cases it reflects the lack of alternatives, and implies precarious living conditions and working poverty.
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