More than 76 million young people across Africa are neither employed nor attended any education or training, Antonio Pedro, Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has said.
“With over 10 to 12 million young Africans entering the workforce annually, but only around 3 million formal jobs created each year, the gap is vast and growing, said Pedro while opening the African Leadership Forum on Monday in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.
“These figures speak to a systemic failure—one that demands a systemic response. Unemployment, particularly among youth, is not merely an economic concern. It is a threat to peace, to social cohesion, and ultimately to the legitimacy of our development model,” he said.
He said African governments must champion policies that expand access to education, infrastructure, digital connectivity, and clean energy—especially for under-served communities.
According to the deputy executive secretary, women and youth—who are often sidelined—should be placed at the heart of labor markets, enterprise development, and policy design and empowering them is not charity—it is a necessity.
He said Africa cannot achieve its ambitions by relying solely on the export of raw commodities.
”Structural transformation must be accelerated. We must shift from resource extraction to value addition, from fragmentation to integration, from vulnerability to resilience” he added.
”This is why the work underway between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia to establish a trans-boundary Special Economic Zone for electric vehicle batteries is so critical. It exemplifies how Africa can turn its mineral wealth—cobalt, lithium, manganese—into a source of regional industrialization and global competitiveness”, Pedro said.
“Africa’s education systems often remain disconnected from the realities of the labor market. Across Africa, over 80 percent of young students aspire to work in high-skilled sectors—yet only 8 percent ever do,” said Pedro noting that Africa must urgently realign education and training with current and future labor market demands.
MG/as/APA