By Franklin Alli

United Nations Industrial  Development Organisation, UNIDO, has warned that the exclusion of youths from the employment market will continue to undermine the economy of African countries.

LI Yong, Director General of the Organisation, stated this in a speech titled “Job creation and entrepreneurship development: A means to accelerate industrialisation.
He said, “Africa’s growth prospects remain strong, too, at an expected rate of 5.1 per cent in 2014. But at the same time so many young Africans are excluded from the economy.

“How can we make growth more inclusive? How can we sustain our economic path when the future of so many young men and women are potentially bleak, at best? Are our children doomed to be this “generation at risk”, as ILO’s most recent report on youth told? Are we facing a lost generation?”

“In Africa a total of 34.5 millions of people were unemployed in 2013. This is an increase of 0.9 million over 2012. At first glance, Africa’s unemployment rate at 9 percent seems to be relatively low.

But this should be no reason for optimism, because only 28 per cent of the African working population is engaged in formal wage paying employment.

“In most developing countries, a young person is 3 times more likely to be unemployed than an adult. Africa has the youngest population in the world with over 200 million aged between 15 and 24; this number is bound to double in the next 30 years.

“At the same time, 60 percent of Africa’s unemployed are young people, and 10 to 12 million young people enter the African labor market every year.

“Clearly, the economic and social costs of unemployment, underemployment, and widespread low quality jobs for young people continue to undermine Africa’s growth potential.

“In many countries of the region such socioeconomic situations was often the trigger of political tensions and inter ethnic unrest.

“The phenomenon of “jobless growth” characterises the experience of many developing countries and regions today.  In Africa as a whole, growth has tended to be restricted to the commodity and natural resource sectors, although, as I have just said, the past decade has seen strong growth and export performance.

While exports have grown by 18.5 per cent a year and GDP by 5.4 per cent, the number of jobs has increased by only 3 per cent annually.

“It is our hope that the solutions being implemented by my Organisation will prompt us to do more for the benefit of our young people, and to do so in a holistic manner, in partnership with all development stakeholders.

Because of the public sector’s limited absorptive capacity, the promotion of the private sector is vital, as 9 out of every 10 jobs are created by private companies.

“In this connection, the development of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) is a proven and effective mechanism to facilitate economic development, yet they require significant support, guidance and investment,” he said.

“History has shown that all countries that have achieved sustained economic growth and job creation have done so through industrialisation.

“Whether we look at the early advancements in Europe or the United States and Japan over a hundred years ago or at the countries that caught up quickly in recent decades, such as the Republic of Korea and the many “tigers” and “dragons” –it was industrial development that shaped their success.

“In fact, there is not a single country in the world that has reached a high stage of economic and social development without having industrialized” he said.