Youth and labour markets in Africa. A critical review of literature

African countries lack the information they need to tackle youth unemployment

By: Bossuroy T, Cling J, De Vreyer P & Durand M et al.
Published by: Développement, Institutions & Analyses de Long terme (DIAL), 2007
Via: Eldis

What are the trends in African youth unemployment? This review of the literature concludes that, though it appears to be a growing problem, the serious lack of labour market data across Africa means that we simply cannot be certain. As a result, we also lack the information we need to address the problem. This paper presents a review of available literature on the characteristics of youth unemployment, and the determinants of youth labour market participation and unemployment across Africa. It also presents some new evidence based on the 1-2-3 Surveys recently conducted in ten African countries, which provide a consistent and comparable picture of the situation of youth employment in urban labour markets in these countries. Separate chapters of the report present:

• the main stylised facts concerning youth employment in Africa, using both international statistics and existing survey data
• the supply-side of the youth labour market the characteristics of young people in the labour market; changes in labour force composition; the extent of upgrades on labour force education; returns to education and training; and the relative disadvantage of young people in terms of access to social capital, land and capital
• the role of labour demand, in particular the impact of labour standards and regulations, commonly considered a major obstacle to creating jobs in Africa, with a case study from Francophone Africa
• a review of recent employment policies and practices in a number of African countries, which attempts to identify possible lessons from their successes or failures

(http://www.dial.prd.fr/dial_publications/PDF/Doc_travail/2007-02.pdf)