Africa faces dark future over youth unemployment - experts

Experts have warned that African countries face a dark future if they cannot come up with innovative strategies to address youth unemployment.

According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), by 2050, Africa's youth population, already the largest at continental level in the world, is projected to double to over 830 million. 

The OECD reports that by the same year, the continent’s working-age population (15-64 years old) will rise from 849 million in 2024 to 1.56 billion, accounting for 85 per cent of the global workforce increase.

During a webinar meeting organised by African Agribusiness Incubators Network (AAIN) on Wednesday under the theme "Incubation and Acceleration for Jobs in Africa,” it was noted that youth form the highest population to drive economic growth but they have not been supported.

“There is a serious problem especially with the increasing number of unemployed youth. There is need for African countries to shift efforts from the youth looking for jobs to giving them opportunities to employ themselves” Ralph Van Kaufmann, a business incubation expert said.

He noted that the African young population offers a great opportunity to drive economies if given the right skills and business support.

“Youth unemployment remains a serious policy challenge in many sub-Saharan African countries, including Uganda and to address this, countries need to shift efforts from just investing in their,” he said before explaining that one of this is through supporting business incubation across countries.

Ms Susan Watkins from the University of Guelph, and a business development and incubation expert, also said countries in Africa need to support the youth especially in Small, Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to grow.

 “Most youth are in SMEs and if supported being the leading population a lot of jobs will be created. Here, they will now be aware of emerging technologies, new market opportunities, and access to research and innovations,” she advised.

Professor Alex Ariho, the executive director AAIN said the youth need to be provided with numerous business support services if African countries are to survive from social –economic challenges.

“The youth can be a force for countries to rely on to fight growing unemployment levels but need to be supported in getting necessary vital skills to venture and succeed in self-employment like marketing, research, financial literacy and access to finance, policy and social development among others,” Professor Ariho noted.

About business incubation

It is a process that helps business startups develop and are nurtured right from idea generation up to growth and success.