Youth employment

Accelerating economic growth and stimulating private sector development are the primary means through which African countries will be able to tackle unemployment and underemployment in the continent.

Alongside this, we call for specific efforts to improve the quality of technical and vocational education and training programmes, with strong private sector participation in design and delivery. This should form part of a wider effort to revitalise Africa’s institutions of higher education, to develop its capacity in science and technology, and to foster leadership and business skills.

Given the high levels of youth unemployment (21% of young people are openly unemployed in Sub-Saharan Africa), a particular emphasis should be placed on providing the conditions for a substantial increase in youth employment and youth entrepreneurship throughout Africa. Business Action for Africa calls for a specific international initiative on youth enterprise building on existing efforts, such as the Youth Employment Network (YEN