GSYE Working Papers

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Browsing GSYE Working Papers by Author "Hoeven, Rolph van der"

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    Work and Income for Young Men and Women in Africa: Employment Potential of Specific Sectors and Sub-Sectors in African Economies: A synthesis
    (African Economic Research Consortium, 2022-08) Hoeven, Rolph van der
    This paper synthesizes two framework papers for the Growth Sectors for Youth Employment: An AERC‒ODI‒ERF‒INCLUDE Collaborative Research Project, which both point to the need for a well-designed sectoral approach in Africa's structural transformation to generate full and productive employment, especially for youth. While an industrial sector itself might not be labour-intensive, the inter-sectoral demand, or creation of value-added in that sector, can boost growth in another sector that is more labour-intensive, resulting in an increase in total employment. Inter-sectoral linkages are, therefore, important in tracking the overall employment effects of any expanding sector. An important question is whether current global trends might throw some doubts on whether in Africa an exclusive reliance on industrial sectors remains a path for structural transformation that was followed mainly by earlier developing countries. Global trends presenting new opportunities for Africa are singled out and three sets of industries relevant for structural transformation and employment creation in Africa are discussed. Given the right incentives, both FDI and domestic investment can create modern firms creating youth employment, but that, because of still high labour force growth in Africa, ‘informal will be normal’ for some time a youth employment agenda needs also to tackle productivity issues in this sector, both on and off the farm and in urban areas.