15 million decent jobs must be created to curb Africa’s unemployment crisis – One Campaign

NAIROBI, Kenya, April 1- More than 15 million decent jobs must be created for Africa by 2025 if governments are serious about making a dent in its unemployment crisis, a non-government organization, ONE Campaign has said.

In a statement, the firm said it had launched a new charter dubbed The People’s Charter on Jobs in Africa as part of its new JobsNowAfrica Campaign where the public is encouraged to petition to urge governments and non-state partners to prioritize this pressing issue.

The charter created by the Jobs Now Africa Coalition will be an interactive tool that outlines the scale of the urgent crisis.

“Without a commitment to effectively tackle the unemployment crisis – such as investing in the tech and digital industries and green jobs opportunities, modernizing agriculture to increase productivity, and ensuring the successful implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) – the organizations behind the coalition warn that the continent risk losing out on the next generation of leaders,” the NGO said.

The creation of the charter was done through consultations and consensus with 70 youth networks, think tanks, CSOs, businesses, and industry experts across 7 African countries, which are responsible for a third of jobs in the continent.

The countries include South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Togo, Tunisia, and Senegal.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the National Youth Council Kenya Roy Telewa said that “the population of young people is growing faster than the ability of the continent to create job opportunities for them, and the gap is widening. That’s why JobsNowAfrica is the contemporary discussion to have. How do we harness the growing population of young people to bring about a demographic dividend? Once we’re able to answer that, talking about how we raise incomes in our homes, expand our savings and investment and expand our products, JobsNowAfrica is the solution for young people,”

Further, Edwin Ikhuoria, Executive Director for Africa at the ONE Campaign, said “The African continent is facing an unprecedented unemployment crisis that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. We cannot afford to keep turning a blind eye to this pressing issue that has fueled the rising instability and insecurity across the region. Many of our youth are discouraged and slowly losing their spark and excitement for the future, and it’s shameful that not more is done to support them,”