Addressing Youth Unemployment in Africa: The Role of Youth Changemakers

Editor's Note: This article was written by SFAN founder and president, Tom-Chris Emewulu after participating in Ashoka West Africa strategy meeting.

If you have followed the ongoing discourse around youth employment and job creation in Africa, then you are cognizant of the urgent need for progressive systems and processes that offer pipeline opportunities to young people.

The numbers are all over the place. A report by the African Development Bank shows that the gap between the number of labor market participants and available wage job opportunities widens by approximately eight million annually.

“Young Africans are disproportionately affected by the slow growth in jobs, and projections suggest that even under the most favorable growth conditions, less than a quarter of the roughly 350 million young Africans entering the labor force by 2035 will find wage employment in the formal sector,” AfDB says.

Thus, the consensus is that youth employment is a cross-cutting and high-priority issue that needs to be addressed within the framework of an interdisciplinary, multi-sectoral, and multi-stakeholder approach (ILO, 2012).

Ashoka Changemakers Convening

Many organizations and stakeholders that try to develop solutions to this problem often miss an important aspect: they do not involve the youth in the conversation. Therefore, they often design flawed programs that cause more problems than solution.

Consequently, Ashoka West Africa organized a strategy meeting that brought together a critical mass of youth Changemakers in West Africa.

The goal: To draw up a proper plan and strategy for selecting and engaging Youth Champions and Youth Champion Organizations.

Ashoka is a global organization that identifies and invests in leading social entrepreneurs -- individuals with innovative and practical ideas for solving social problems.

The meeting held at the cozy Sunfit hotel in Lagos, Nigeria, on February 16, 2018.

Adaoha Onyebuchi, the Lead Curate Youth Changemakers gave a warm welcome to the guests and introduced the Regional Director of Ashoka West Africa, Mrs. Josephine Nzerem, for an introduction to Ashoka Vision.

In her remarks, Nzerem noted that Ashoka Africa desires to have a paradigm shift in the society, where putting young people in charge and trusting them to lead in creating positive change in Africa becomes the norm in the ecosystem.

She also mentioned that Ashoka aims to catalyze, strengthen and grow a network of impactful young Changemakers. To this effect, the organization is restructuring its operation to merge the regional clusters into one unified initiative.

Social Innovators Creating Paradigm Shifts

As with every meeting with social entrepreneurs, all the sessions of the program were quite intense: beginning with the launch of Youth Unstuck to highlighting the paradigm shifts for transforming youth employment and leadership to discussions and feedback on the practical experience of youth engagement from Youth Organizations.

I had the privilege of leading a session that aimed at mapping out the top five characteristics of youth championing programs that are the most impactful, practical in the African context, replicable, measurable, etc.

Entrepreneurs took turns sharing their best practices and making recommendations on youth programs/organizations that showcase Youth Championing Models.

As I listened to different opinions from social innovators ‘transforming livelihoods and leadership’ in their communities, the philosophy behind our work at SFAN remained central: Young people are smart and if given the skills and opportunities to engage the real world, magic will happen!

There are numerous meaningful youth employment interventions championed by young social innovators across Africa. If these initiatives scale, they could create a remarkable socio-economic resonance in the continent. The role of government institutions and other stakeholders in this space is, therefore, to galvanize these talents and create a framework for equipping them with requisite business skills and support structures that drive growth and inclusive value creation.

Programs like Ashoka’s "Transforming Youth Employment and Leadership" are a step in the right direction toward highlighting proven, replicable processes that tackle the root causes of youth unemployment, and building the much-needed network of changemakers.

How SFAN Supports Workforce Readiness in Africa

SFAN established the transformational ReadyforWork accelerator to unlock the potential of Africa's budding talents and help them become part of the global workforce.

Unveiling ReadyforWork

For entry-level job seekers and early career professionals who need tools, services, and support to learn new digital skills to launch or future-proof their careers, ReadyforWork offers an Al-assisted education solution with a market-aligned curriculum, clear career path and tools to prove their skills to prospective employers.

The platform is a two-sided marketplace. It helps learners understand how they stack up against their competition, gives them resources to level up and become of higher value when looking for gainful and meaningful work, and gives employers access to an emerging talent pipeline for a global workforce --with data-driven mechanisms to assess that talent.

Unlike other training programs that major in providing certifications, which do not work, ReadyforWork focuses on deep education, making learners minimally viable for their career aspirations. Through project-based, industry-driven training models and coach support, ReadyforWork gives students tools to turn learned skills into businesses and fulfilling careers.

How ReadyforWork Works

ReadyforWork leverages strategic partnerships with employers and entrepreneurs in high-growth industries to help learners experience a market-aligned curriculum and create successful careers.

Our success-based pricing means learners can enjoy high-value, data-driven education at less than 30% of the cost of traditional programs. Whether you're looking for a new job, want to upskill to future-proof your career, or turn your passion into a business, ReadyforWork provides personalized, project-based learning, 1:1 career coaching, and career pipelines that help participants unlock their potential.

Unique Benefits With Transformational Results

ReadyforWork sets itself apart from the competition because of its intense focus on deep education with project-based programming. Some unique benefits include:

1. Market-Aligned Curriculum: A market-aligned curriculum ensures that students are taught by industry practitioners rather than by individuals who lack real-world experience in their field.
2. Project-Based Learning: The project-based learning framework allows learners to solve real business problems for real companies, not made-up case studies with zero accountability.
3. Personalized Education: Personalized education helps learners access tailored materials that meet their career needs where they are and track their progress with actual data.
4. Ongoing Career Support: With the community support and job pipeline, ReadyforWork learners get the tools, services, and support systems they need to turbocharge their careers.

Every candidate who graduates from our program can be sure they are ReadyforWork! Watch Kezia Owusu's remarkable impact story: