African Governments Must Pay Attention To Youth Unemployment

Africa has always been a great continent with a peerless story. Our story is anomalous because we experienced slavery for about 400years and then followed by colonization which also spanned for about 100years. In this vein, Africa has experienced 500years of subjugation and oppression.

Despite this, the continent rose from the ashes of setback and today, it is worth $2.39trillion of GDP’s with a population of about 1.2 billion people of which majority are the youth. Africa has a large number of energetic and enterprising youth on its continent. Nevertheless, most African youth seem to face common challenges which range from unemployment to an uncertain future. According to statistics by Good Governance Africa, Rwanda is the African country with lower youth unemployment rate; most African countries are among the countries with high youth unemployment in the world with Mauritania being the highest.

According to the African Development Bank, 25% of African youth are illiterate and this to me is a threat to the future prospect of Africa. Youth unemployment is not only in Africa but in many other countries in the world. China has over 2845 tertiary institutions and about 7.2m students graduate from these institutions annually. This has raised youth unemployment in China. Today, the Chinese government is on the verge of turning about 600 of its universities into technical institutions that will equip students with relevant skills to meet the global labor demand.

The Chinese government is building good relations with most African governments through the provision of loans and grants. Often times, these loans and grants come with conditions that allow only Chinese companies to be contracted in the projects where these funds are used. Currently, most Chinese youth are spreading over Africa to work in the Chinese companies in the construction, manufacturing and mining sectors. African governments must wise up!

In D.R Congo, the youth extract minerals with tools and in extreme cases with their hands. The cassiterite, coltan and tantalum which are extracted in D.R Congo and some other parts of Africa are used in manufacturing of electronic devices like Nokia phones, Apple, HP and Dell laptops. The youth engaged in the extraction work are exploited by these foreign companies to the extent that they cannot afford the cheapest Nokia or Apple phone products though they produce the raw material for its manufacturing. Some of the companies with the aid of some greedy politicians, stir conflicts among various youth groups which have claimed over 5.4m lives since 1998. African governments must wise up!

It is crucial that our governments factor this “youth bulge” into national and social development planning. Structural arrangement must be made to meet the work demand of the youth. Local governments must actively engage in solving the unemployment canker by enacting policies and plans which will give the youth work experience and training.

In Senegal, there is a program called “Agence d’Execution des Travaux d’interent public” through this program, unemployed youth are trained through temporary work on public infrastructure before getting permanent jobs. Similarly, in Burkina Faso, through a modernized apprenticeship system, students both attend school and work as apprentice to learn specific skills and I think this is in the right direction. The agriculture sector must be mechanized to attract we the youth.

Today, about 70% of African youth live on less than $2 a day. The Arab Spring is a true indication of what the unemployed youth in Africa can do. Indeed, the African government must wise up by paying serious attention to the youth of Africa but inasmuch as the governments must wise up, we the youth must also wise up. We must make use of our legal potentials to the recognition of the world and we must also take part in volunteerism. Youth unemployment if not checked, will pose a serious threat on the survival of democracy in African. God bless Africa! “We are not children of a lesser god.”

Ntenhene Felix
([email protected])
KNUST.