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1. Why Morocco’s Youth Employment Policies Continue to Fail

Author:
Ismail Ait Bassou
Publication Date:
02-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
Although Morocco has launched several programs designed to provide job opportunities for young people, youth unemployment rates remain high. This paper argues these programs have proven ineffective and are compounded by an unsustainable business environment, and presents some recommendations to ensure the planned reforms in the youth employment sector deliver on what they promise.
Topic:
Labor Issues, Employment, Youth, and Job Creation
Political Geography:
Africa and Morocco

2. Profile and determinants of lived poverty in Benin

Author:
Romaric Samson and Richard Houessou
Publication Date:
10-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Afrobarometer
Abstract:
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, launched in 2015, outlines global aspirations and priorities through the end of this decade. Prominently, the first two Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for ending poverty “in all its forms everywhere” and for “zero hunger” (United Nations, 2021a). The proportion of the world’s population living in extreme poverty decreased from 36% in 1990 to 16% in 2010 and to 10% in 2015, but the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have reversed this trend (Sumner, Hoy, & Ortiz-Juarez, 2020). Benin has had one of the fastest-growing economies in sub-Saharan Africa in recent years (Adegoke, 2019), with per-capita gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaging 3.6% between 2017 and 2019 (World Bank, 2020). But the most recent household survey led by the Institut National de la Statistique et de l’Analyse Economique (2018) estimated that 38.5% of citizens still live in poverty. Are GDP gains translating into better lives for ordinary Beninese? According to Afrobarometer survey findings, “lived poverty” – the experience of going without basic life necessities – has worsened significantly over the past decade in Benin. More than three out of four Beninese face moderate or high levels of lived poverty. Many of these citizens continue to have limited access to the electricity grid, water and sanitation services, and other essential development infrastructure. Most importantly, our analysis shows they often lack the education and employment needed to break the poverty cycle.
Topic:
Education, Poverty, Infrastructure, Inequality, and Job Creation
Political Geography:
Africa and Benin

3. The Concept Of Africapitalism And The Role Of The Private Sector In Africa’s Socio-Economic Development

Author:
Dinga Tambi and Dr. Fuein Vera Kum
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
Development is one of the main priorities of the United Nations. Development is a multidimensional concept that seeks to achieve a higher quality of life for all people. Economic development, social development and, environmental protection are interdependent and mutually reinforcing components of sustainable development. Africa is one of the fastest-growing continents in the world today. The private sector plays a great role in terms of job creation and employment. Constrained by a crippling environment and burdensome government policies for decades, Africa still hosts a majority of the least developed countries of the world. The private sector is said to have a major role to play in Africa’s development, a situation which Elumelu (2019) describes as ‘Africapitalism.’ According to Elumelu (2019) Africapitalism represents the belief that the private sector in Africa has a critical role to play in the continent’s development. For Africapitalism to hold, some basic principles have be put in place. These include entrepreneurship, long-term investments, investment in strategic sectors, and regional connectivity amongst others. Africapitalism lays emphasis on private sector growth as the primary driver of Africa’s development. It calls for a new kind of capitalism for Africa: one that focuses on long-term investment in key sectors of the economy to spark the growth of African-owned businesses, stimulate the creation of jobs, and guarantee sustainable economic growth. Essentially, africapitalism embodies a private sector-led approach to solving some of Africa’s most intractable economic growth and development problems.
Topic:
Economics, Capitalism, Business, Economic Development, Private Sector, and Job Creation
Political Geography:
Africa

4. Monitoring the Inclusiveness of Ghana’s Planting for Food and Jobs Program in the Bosome Freho and Saboba Districts

Author:
William Quarmine
Publication Date:
03-2020
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Ghana Center for Democratic Development
Abstract:
In March 2017, the New Patriotic Party (NPP)-led government announced the implementation of a ‘Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ)’program in pursuit of its 2016 election campaign promise of enhancing agricultural productivity. Launched in April, 2017, the program seeks to promote self-sufficiency in food production while providing jobs to Ghanaians. The government sought to achieve the program objectives through the provision of improved seeds, the supply of fertilizers, the provision of dedicated extension services, purchase and marketing of food produce, among other initiatives. As part of its mission to track allocation of national resources, and especially the extent to which marginalized communities and groups, particularly women and youth, are included in this resource allocation, the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) implemented a project titled ‘Promoting Fiscal Justice for Socio-Economic Transformation (PFJSET)’. The overall objective of this project was to track and assess the extent of inclusiveness of the PFJ program in terms of reach and resource allocation.
Topic:
Labor Issues, Food, Women, Food Security, Youth, Job Creation, and Marginalization
Political Geography:
Africa and Ghana

5. Youth Employment in Botswana: Comparative Analysis of 2009/10 and 2015/16

Author:
Tshepiso Gaetsewe
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
Abstract:
The study examines determinants of youth unemployment in Botswana by comparing two different datasets- (2009/10 Botswana Core Welfare Indicator Survey (BCWIS) and 2015/16 Botswana Multi-Topic Household Survey (BMTHS)). The main objective of the study is to identify the factors that determine the employment probabilities of the youth. Using a probit model we find that gender, age, marital status and education level have an impact on the employment probabilities in both 2009/10 and 2015/16 time periods. Males had a higher chance of employability compared to females. The government and private sector need to develop programmes that will increase women participation in the labour market. Results also indicate that youth with post-secondary education have a better chance of employment. Individuals dwelling in rural and urban areas are less likely to get employment. Government needs to boost business activity in rural areas by identifying and investing in economic activities located there.
Topic:
Employment, Youth, Unemployment, and Job Creation
Political Geography:
Africa and Botswana

6. Implementing the Ahafo Benefit Agreements: Seeking Meaningful Community Participation at Newmont’s Ahafo Gold Mine in Ghana

Author:
Benjamin Boakye, Maggie Cascadden, Jordon Kuschminder, Eric Werker, and Sam Szoke-Burke
Publication Date:
07-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
In 2008, ten communities in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana entered into agreements with Newmont Ghana to govern company-community relations, ensure local job creation, and share the benefits of the company’s mining operations. Ten years later, this report, co-authored by Canadian International Resources and Development Institute (CIRDI), African Center for Energy Policy (ACEP), CCSI, and ISP, looks at the communities’ experience of those agreements and suggests how the agreements might be improved. Though the agreements were celebrated for their attempts to include all stakeholders in decision-making, challenges remain around representation, consultation, and participation. New entities established to facilitate multi-stakeholder decision-making have led to the replication of existing power imbalances. And despite many improvements, the agreements have not fully stabilized company-community relations; tensions and grievances remain concerning employment, compensation, and resettlement, among other issues. The report makes research-informed recommendations for the communities, Newmont Ghana, and other stakeholders in the lead-up to the renegotiation of the agreements. While the negotiation of benefit agreements (sometimes called “Community Development Agreements”) have been the subject of wide-ranging research, academic literature on agreement implementation is still relatively sparse, and tends to focus on cases in Australia and Canada, with little information available from cases in low- or middle-income countries. This report therefore seeks to contribute to filling this gap, alongside other studies mentioned in the report.
Topic:
Energy Policy, Mining, Community, and Job Creation
Political Geography:
Africa, Canada, Australia, and Ghana

7. Addressing Africa's Youth Employment and Food Security Crisis: The Role of African Agriculture in Job Creation

Author:
Olusegun Obasanjo
Publication Date:
09-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF)
Abstract:
Despite the abundance of agricultural resources, sub-Saharan Africa remains the world’s most food insecure region. HE Olusegun Obasanjo’s view is that there are many critical factors responsible for food insecurity in this region. They include undeveloped land tenure systems, high bank loan rates, inadequate availability of agricultural special banks, poor access to market information and prices, an unreliable market for farm produce and inadequate road network, transport and storage infrastructures for farm produce. There is also a lack of capacity for cooperative and value addition to farm produce and poor capacity for and access to agricultural insurance services. In addition, poor capacity for labor and labor costing are also part of the problem. Agriculture is one of the economic sectors that can employ millions of young people and reduce youth unemployment and enhance food security on the continent. The challenges facing adult farmers are huge but not as large as the challenges that young people encounter when trying to engage in agriculture as a profession. Nevertheless, there is hope, and opportunities abound for young people to be successful in agriculture.
Topic:
Agriculture, Employment, Food Security, Youth, and Job Creation
Political Geography:
Africa