AFDB PLANS 25 MILLION JOBS FOR YOUTHS

Africa Development Bank Group (AfDB) to create 25 million jobs for African youths

The President, African Development Bank Group (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has launched the Presidential Youth Advisory Group (PYAG), which is an initiative that is expected to create about 25 million jobs.

PYAG which was launched at the sidelines of the 6th EU-Africa Business Forum in Abidjan, would provide insights and innovative solutions for job creation for Africa’s youth as outlined in the Bank’s Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy (JfYA). JfYA aims at benefiting 50 million youth over the next 10 years by equipping them with the right skills to get decent and meaningful jobs.

Adesina, identified Africa’s greatest asset as its youth, and said he observed that out of the 13 million youths that enter the labour market each year, only 3 million (about 33% of African youth) are in wage employment, the remaining are either underemployed or in vulnerable employment.

According to him, “The annual gap of more than 8 million jobs is going to worsen, with the number of youth expected to double to more than 800 million in the next decades.”

Unless employment opportunities are created for them, this Africa’s rapidly growing population of youths can give rise to serious social, economic, political and security challenges.