The employment crisis in Africa is getting worse: in South Africa every second young person is unemployed. More initiative could help, say experts.
Africa job crisis: young men waiting for work in Abuja, Nigeria
Steven Moyo gets up at 5 a.m. every day and looks for work on the streets of the business metropolis of Johannesburg. He talks to motorists at the intersections, offers his services – Moyo is an electrician. On a good day, he earns a maximum of 30 euros. But these days are becoming fewer and fewer.
South Africa is in a deep recession, exacerbated by the years of the corona pandemic. “The situation has gotten worse. There is nobody who could hire us,” Moyo said in a DW interview. He doesn't know where to get money for food and rent.
No money to live on
There are many stories like this in South Africa. In Cape Town, DW spoke to twenty-something Namhla Mcimbi. She had to give up her studies in psychology because she could no longer pay the tuition fees – so she slipped into unemployment. Many of her fellow students felt the same way.
Namhla Mcimbi (third from left) with friends on a stroll in Cape Town , but there is not enough money for shopping
However, contacts are important for a possible way out, said Mcimbi: “People put their cousins and sisters in companies, so that it is difficult for you as a stranger to get a job.”
Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa: Unemployment over 30 percent
The economic situation in South Africa is catastrophic: around every second young person under the age of 34 is unemployed. According to official figures, the unemployment rate has recovered slightly, but at 32.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022 it is still among the highest on the continent and worldwide.
Other top performers are Namibia and Nigeria, which according to the US media company Bloomberg had the highest ratings worldwide. Djibouti and Eswatini have also been far ahead recently. According to estimates, a quarter of the world's working population will live on the continent by 2050.
South Africa: debate about basic income
In South Africa, there was even looting in Johannesburg and Durban in July 2021 because of the horrendous youth unemployment. Patrick Bond, a sociologist and economist at the University of Johannesburg, emphasizes that President Cyril Ramaphosa felt compelled to introduce social assistance for the unemployed of around 18 euros. “It's a sign of the state's desperation to pour money into the problem,” he says in a DW interview.
Shops in South Africa's townships were looted during the 2021 lockdown
But Bond doesn't think this approach is effective. He advocates a basic income subsidy with a much higher amount of at least 40 euros per month to cover the basic costs of food and shelter.
But the main obstacle to this is international finance and pressure from the rating agencies – the high level of foreign debt put the finance minister under pressure to cut budgets and cap social wages. The political debates about a possible basic income in South Africa continue.
There are no jobs – in the country and in the city
The employment crisis on the continent south of the Sahara is getting worse, according to a study by the Africa department of the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation, which was compiled by the economist and Africa expert Robert Kappel. It says: “Every year about 20 million people look for a job that does not exist either in rural or urban areas.”
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Another example of the large gap between job supply and job demand is Uganda: According to a study, 400,000 young Ugandans enter the labor market every year and compete for only around 52,000 available formal jobs. High employment growth is necessary in order to cope with the increasing social challenges.
Uganda: initiative is required
In Uganda there are currently more than 1.2 million young people with vocational qualifications without a job. The same goes for Maureen Babidiye: she completed a course in travel management at a flight school and has now been unemployed for two years. After internships in companies, Babidiye tried to get a job in an airline crew – without success: “The competition is fierce and nothing works without contacts,” she tells DW. Now she is trying to become self-employed – with her own travel agency, which she wants to build up through contacts online.
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Personal initiative is exactly what counts today, according to Charles Ocici, director of the Enterprise Uganda Foundation: “There are few jobs and they will continue to be lost. That applies not only to Uganda, but worldwide,” Ocici told DW: “The Gone are the days when everything was scripted – go to school, study hard and then get a job.” You have to rethink and be open to getting involved in the market in a valuable way. As an employee or with your own private company. “Many people are more supportive of those who have an open mind to open a business.”
Fear of 'Arab Spring'
Sociologist Bond says that the high level of dissatisfaction, especially among young people, is causing increasing concern for the establishment in South Africa, which fears another 'Arab Spring'. Beginning with protests in Tunisia, young people in numerous Arab countries revolted against the political system from 2010.
In Morocco people protest against price increases on the anniversary of the Arab Spring
In South Africa, this scenario is often presented as a threat from a ruling party that was once very committed to youth rebellion but is now part of popular oppression because it follows western economic policies, Bond said.
If the West continues to force South Africa to repay its debts and the country has less money available for employment programs and social benefits, it risks that the country will move further towards the BRICS countries Russia, China and India and dictatorial regimes like Iran, Saudi… -Arabian Oriente.
For Namhla Mcimbi in Cape Town, a glimmer of hope emerged from the frustration when she turned to Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, a not-for-profit social enterprise that promotes youth employment through partnerships. There she learned basic requirements for finding a job. Shortly afterwards she found a temporary job as a teaching assistant.
Collaborators: Frank Yiga, Jane Nyingi