Growth Sectors, Youth and Employment: Challenges and Way Forward: A Synthesis Paper of Ethiopia, Mali and Nigeria Country Case Studies
Date
2022-08
Authors
Omolo, Jacob
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Abstract
Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries were posting relatively good economic
growth rates pre-COVID-19. The region registered an average growth rate of 4.1%
in 2010‒2019 before registering a declined growth of 1.9% in 2020. Ethiopia
maintained a strong growth rate of at least 7.7% in 2010‒2019, averaging 9.6% over
the period. Equally, Mozambique and Mali's average growth rates of 5.5% and 4.4%
in 2010‒2019 were above the SSA's average. Though Nigeria's real economic growth
rate remained highly volatile, it managed an average of 3.8% in 2010‒2019, which
was marginally below the region's average. Despite the realized growth rates, SSA
and her member countries continue to witness increased levels of unemployment,
particularly for women and youth. Unemployment rate amongst the youth (15-35
years) in Mali was estimated at 20.2% in 2019, with young females bearing a higher
burden (6.1%) compared to young males (4.9%). The youth (15-29 years) in Ethiopia
bore unemployment rate of 14% in 2021, six percentage points above the national
average. The unemployment rate of the female youth (29%) was almost double
that of the male youth (16%). Youth (15-34 years) unemployment rate in Nigeria
was estimated at 30% in 2018. Again, the female youth suffered higher rates of
unemployment compared to male youth. Besides open unemployment, the youth
also experience underemployment and vulnerable employment with regional,
sectoral, gender, and age-based disparities.
Enhancing decent employment for young men and women is a key policy priority
of all governments in SSA, including Ethiopia, Mali and Nigeria. While many policies,
legal, institutional and programmatic interventions that seek to promote creation
of employment opportunities for young men and women exist, youth employment
challenge persists. Furthermore, while the countries premise employment creation on
economic growth, the growth episodes in these countries have not been accompanied
by commensurate growth in employment. A number of studies have been conducted
on the trends and drivers of youth unemployment. However, there is limited robust
evidence on the economic sectors that have the greatest potential to create jobs for
the youth.
Following the identified research gap, the African Economic Research Consortium
(AERC) in partnership with the Economic Research Forum (ERF) and Overseas
Development Institute (ODI) commissioned collaborative studies in a number of
countries. The researches focused on “Income and work for young men and women
2 Working Paper GSYE-004
in Africa: A political Economy and Social Equity Approach to the Employment
Potential of Specific Sectors and Subsectors in African Economies”. This Synthesis
Paper draws from country-specific researches conducted in Ethiopia, Mali, and
Nigeria1
. Though a similar study was also conducted in Mozambique, the country's
study report was not available for review. The broad objective of the country case
studies was to identify the growth sectors, provide evidence on country-specific actors
and conditions needed to support these sectors, and identify ways to promote equal
access to the opportunities by all youth regardless of their gender, socioeconomic
background, or geographical location.