African business and political leaders, including Zambia Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda, have described Africa’s youth employment challenge as a “ticking time bomb.” The deepening gap between young people’s skills and the needs of employers has been linked to education systems that simply are not up to snuff, but also to a general lack of faith in young people as being capable of making meaningful contributions in a global marketplace, sometimes because of cultural and gender biases.
As a result, young men and women in sub-Saharan Africa are more likely to make a living in the insecure informal economy, struggling to overcome myriad barriers to formal employment.
(Youth aren’t alone: 49% of sub-Saharan Africa’s workforce is un- or under-employed.)
