Africa is demographically the world’s youngest continent. By 2030, about 20% of the global labour force and nearly 35% of the global youth labour force will be from this region. While 10 to 12 million Africa’s youth enter the workforce each year, only 3 million formal jobs are created. Indeed, the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will likely worsen this trend. With most African countries in lockdown, the impact of COVID-19 on economies and businesses will be significant and long-lasting. According to a recent assessment by the ILO, almost 25 million jobs could be lost worldwide as a result of the pandemic. Both the formal and informal sectors are threatened with destruction. Noting that 15-34 year-olds make up close to half of the continent’s working age population; young people will be the first to feel the effects of this recession – and most likely the last to recover. This is a sad reality on a continent with such an impressive pool of youth, talent and creativity. Lack of youth employment opportunities undermines Economic growth, Social cohesion and Political stability.
From the demand-side perspective, COVID-19 has reduced consumption, and neither African SMEs nor their countries have sufficient market infrastructure (such as internet connectivity or e-commerce markets) to help mitigate this shock. From the supply-side, the virus has affected workers in terms of employment and access to work, and mitigation measures have caused a slowdown of economic activity. The sectors that are most at risk of COVID-19 disruptions in Africa are: wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, administrative services, and hospitality (including tourism). Along with agriculture, these sectors represent many of the key industries where young people currently find employment.
In the midst of this gloomy scenario what opportunities may be opening up for the youth? Where would a youth start in a depressed Economy?
The truth is that this crisis comes with opportunities. The old Chinese proverb; ‘A crisis is an opportunity riding the dangerous wind’ applies even now. If you look around, you will realize there are more opportunities than threats. As long as the world has not come to an end yet, there will always be needs; people must eat, have a roof over their heads, keep warm & healthy etc. Allow the crisis to ignite the creativity in you; quarantine, lock-down and all other mitigation measures although painful gives a rare time for planning, reflection and self-examination. There will definitely be winners and losers during and after this pandemic; how do you align your ideas to the winning side.
For SME owners, Business Managers & Corporate heads, give youth a chance. Businesses are looking to bounce back quickly after the pandemic-it’s time we created opportunities for internship and apprenticeship for the youth. In addition let us consider mentoring our young people for sustainable job creation and succession planning?
Lastly as John Denver put it “I would so much like young people to have a sense of the gift that they are”, our youth are truly a gift![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”835″ label=””][vc_column_text]Mary Kamore is the Lead Consultant MoliveS Mentors[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][/vc_column][/vc_row]