Geneva, Switzerland · 11 August 2022 — The International Labour Organization's Global Employment Trends for Youth 2022 report laid bare a stark reality: the global recovery in youth employment following the COVID-19 pandemic was not only lagging but deeply unequal, with African youth facing some of the most persistent structural barriers to decent work of any region in the world.
The report, published in August 2022, documented that young people globally were disproportionately affected by the pandemic's labour market disruption. Youth faced significant "labour market scarring" — the long-term consequences of periods of unemployment or inactivity early in a career, which can permanently depress lifetime earnings and career trajectories.
The African Context
For sub-Saharan Africa, the ILO's findings carried particular weight. The region's youth employment challenge is structurally distinct from that of other parts of the world. While headline unemployment rates in many sub-Saharan African countries appear lower than in Europe or the Middle East, this statistic is deceptive: it reflects not an abundance of jobs but the fact that most young people cannot afford to be unemployed. They work, but in conditions that fall far short of what the ILO defines as "decent work."
This informality gap is the central challenge. Informal employment — ranging from street vending and subsistence agriculture to unregistered small enterprises — typically offers no contracts, no social insurance, no pension contributions, and no legal protections. Workers in this sector are invisible to labour inspectorates, excluded from unemployment insurance, and vulnerable to sudden income loss from illness, economic shocks, or climate events.
NEET Rates and Gender Disparities
The report also highlighted the problem of NEET youth — those Not in Employment, Education, or Training. Africa faced some of the highest NEET rates globally, with significant gender disparities. In Northern Africa, women were particularly affected, with cultural barriers, limited access to education, and labour market discrimination combining to push young women out of the economic mainstream.
In sub-Saharan Africa, the ILO identified specific "demographic pressures" — the sheer volume of young people entering the labour market each year — as a compounding factor. The region's working-age population is growing faster than the capacity of formal labour markets to absorb new entrants, creating a structural mismatch between labour supply and decent job creation.
Social Protection: The Widest Gap
Perhaps the most striking finding for African policymakers was the state of social protection coverage. The ILO has consistently reported that social protection coverage in Africa is the lowest in the world.
This means that the vast majority of African youth — even those who are employed — have no safety net to fall back on during periods of unemployment, illness, or economic shock. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed this vulnerability brutally, as lockdowns and economic contraction pushed millions of informal workers into immediate poverty with no recourse to government support.
Policy Responses and Frameworks
The ILO's analysis in 2022 was situated within several ongoing policy frameworks aimed at addressing these structural deficits:
-
The AU-ILO Youth Employment Strategy for Africa (YES-Africa): This strategy, designed to implement the 2019 Abidjan Declaration, remained the primary framework for coordinating youth employment efforts across the continent. It pushes African governments to prioritise decent work and social protection for youth.
-
The UN Secretary-General's Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions: Launched in September 2021, this initiative gained significant momentum in 2022–2023. It aims to bridge the jobs and social protection gaps by promoting decent job creation — particularly in green and care economies — and extending social protection floors to those currently uncovered.
The Path Forward
The report's recommendations converged on several priority areas:
- Formalising informal employment through simplified business registration, tax incentives for small enterprises, and gradual extension of labour protections.
- Investing in skills development aligned with labour market demand, particularly in digital, green, and care economy sectors.
- Extending social protection floors to uncovered populations, using innovative financing mechanisms and digital delivery systems.
- Promoting entrepreneurship and self-employment through access to finance, business development services, and market linkages.
- Addressing gender disparities through targeted programmes that remove barriers to women's economic participation.
The ILO's 2022 report served as both a diagnostic and a call to action. The data was clear: without deliberate, coordinated, and adequately resourced interventions, Africa's demographic dividend risked becoming a demographic liability — a generation of young people unable to access the decent work that would enable them to build secure, productive lives.
Sources:
- International Labour Organization, Global Employment Trends for Youth 2022, August 2022
- ILO, World Social Protection Report 2020–2022, social protection coverage data
- ILO, AU-ILO Youth Employment Strategy for Africa (YES-Africa) documentation
- United Nations, Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions, 2021–2023
FIRAT Editorial Board
Institutional Research Desk · Foresight Institute of Research and Translation
The collective editorial and research translation board of FIRAT, synthesising peer-reviewed evidence, policy briefs, and division milestones across our seven foundational research pillars.
