Africa’s youth represents both an opportunity and a challenge. 41 percent of Africa’s population is below the age of 15. By 2035, more people will reach working age (15-64) on the continent than the rest of the world combined. This so-called ‘demographic dividend’ is a massive opportunity for enhanced productivity and economic growth. However, it also represents challenges to societal progress and stability, as the youths that are marginalised–politically, economically or socially–can place further pressure on already strained resources and become vulnerable to extremism and criminal behaviour.
African countries must enact enabling policies and create institutional structures to harness this youth potential. Social, political and economic structures such as quality and affordable healthcare, education, skills and training, political freedoms, inclusion and information access will catalyse the transition from demographic growth to demographic benefit. Unemployment is holding back the potential of Africa’s youth and requires to look beyond expanding access to education. Continuing youth unemployment, which currently sits at approximately 50 percent across the continent, is among the greatest challenges facing the continent.
To date, many countries have tried to address this challenge by expanding access to education. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that we must attend not only to the quantity of our education but also to its relevance to employers. Across the continent, employers complain that school and university leavers lack the skills they need most–soft skills, in particular–while students find themselves disappointed and angry when years of often painful investment in and sacrifice for their education leaves them without gainful employment.
Moreover, we must understand the particular challenges youth face when engaging in entrepreneurship, and help grow the small businesses that account for a large proportion of job creation on the continent–adding just one job to 15 percent of South Africa’s existing SMEs, for example, could lower unemployment by over four percentage points. Not every young person should be an entrepreneur, but we should recognise and celebrate those that are building homegrown businesses that strengthen the resilience of their families, communities and countries.
In addition, the bottlenecks hindering women’s full participation in Africa’s economic processes need to be removed. Despite being a critical factor in Africa’s productive labour force, women are still marginalised and excluded from full economic participation. Traditional norms and cultural values are some of the drivers of gender inequality, compromising women’s full productive potential. Institutional arrangements must be made to ensure that women participate in decision-making processes and access information, capital and business opportunities.
Source : venturesafrica.com