The African continent has seen an unprecedented youth bulge. Half of the population is under 25
years of age, and from 2015-2035, there will be an annual increase of 500,000 young people aged 15.
Though, African countries have experienced rapid gross domestic product growth in the last
decade, their youth unemployment remains high. The growth of almost all African countries still
depend on primary commodities for their exports and the failure of this growth to reduce poverty is
stark in several countries. Thus, African youth unemployment is on the rise exacerbated by an
absence of industries that may employ a great number of youth. Although significant proportion
of African youth are better educated, many are unemployed or underemployed in the informal economy and part of the problem is a mismatch between the skills that young jobseekers have to offer and those that employers need. Initiatives are being implemented throughout the continent by governmental organizations, civil society organizations, international development agencies, etc. to increase the number of youth in the labour force and entrepreneurship ventures. Some of these initiatives are innovative and worth sharing with practitioners and policy makers to entice them in replicating those approaches. The targeted initiatives are summarized in this compendium in two main themes as follows: Youth entrepreneurship and employment initiatives in Africa – Unleashing the
power of youth and the demographic dividend in Africa. This compendium on youth and MfDR,
which aims to become a benchmark of successful initiatives in different regions across the continent,
has been developed to help African countries in replicating and/or scaling up successful initiatives.
