With over 200 million people aged between 15 and 24, Africa has the largest population of young people in the world, with current trends indicating a doubling of the numbers by 2045. As the world commemorates International Youth Day this week, with the theme “Safe Spaces for Youth”, the African Development Bank reiterates its commitment to an inclusive and youth-focused economic transformation agenda for the continent.
At stake is the future of the continent’s agricultural and industrial economy and Africa’s place in the emerging Fourth Industrial Revolution. A combination of factors including migration and poor economic choices, have resulted in Africa’s efforts to industrialize standing still over the last decade. The Bank is however on course to stopping the exodus of its most valuable resource.
To make agriculture more attractive to young people, it has since 2016 invested over $800 million in supporting young entrepreneurs in agriculture in more than15 countries. It will also galvanize over $1.5 billion annually over the next 10 years, to support young agriculture entrepreneurs. As a way of accelerating Africa’s industrialization, the Bank is promoting special economic zones (SEZs) across the continent to attract investments for industrialization – zones that will need hordes of young workers to thrive.
“Africa must stop being a museum of poverty. Its people are determined to reverse this trend. The future of young Africans is not in Europe, their destiny is not to end their lives in the Mediterranean Sea,” Bank President Akinwunmi Adesina told reporters during the 53rd Annual Meetings of the Bank in Busan, Korea in June.
The African Development Bank is working swiftly to reduce the skills mismatches in the labor market. Over the last 15 years, the Bank group’s education projects has invested over $1.64 billion in programs benefiting 6 million African youth and women, equipping them with the right skills for the jobs of the future in the ICT and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) industries.
The Bank, Africa’s foremost development finance institution, continues to make progress in the implementation of its youth strategy, which is anchored on three key pillars: innovation, integration and investment. Its Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy aims to create 25 million jobs and benefit 50 million youth over the next 10 years by equipping them with the right skills to get decent and meaningful jobs. It is currently the largest effort going on for youth employment in Africa today. From 2016 to date, the Bank has invested over $400 million in both public and private operations to promote jobs for the youth in Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and other countries on the continent.
Original source: AfDB
Published on 14 August 2018
