The Challenge
The youth unemployment rate in Sub-Saharan Africa stands at around 21%, the second highest rate in the world after the Middle East and North Africa and 3.5 times higher than the adult unemployment rate in the region. Several factors account for high youth unemployment in Africa, including low quality of education and low levels of educational attainment, weak economic growth and investment, and a mismatch between labor market needs and available skills. Youth unemployment is generally higher in urban areas than in rural areas, though underemployment tends to be higher in rural areas. Young people lack the opportunity to gain formal work experience, while a lack of general and job-related skills also puts young people at a disadvantage.

Meanwhile, the youth population in Sub-Saharan Africa is growing.
The youth labor force in this region is projected to grow by 28.2% between 2003 and 2015, compared with a mere 3.8% increase in South East Asia and a decline of 3.1% in industrialized economies. This population bulge will have a significant impact on youth employment and require greater attention to job creation. At the same time, several African countries have experienced increased economic development. That progress, along with recent demographic trends, demonstrates real potential for increased labor market activities through public-private partnerships.

The Initiative
The Youth Empowerment Program (YEP) is a two-year partnership led by IYF and Microsoft to improve the employability of disadvantaged African youth, ages 16 to 35, through the provision of demand-driven training in information and communications technology (ICT), life skills, entrepreneurship, and employment services. The program aims to reach 40,000 individuals, with 10,000 young people benefiting from technology, life skills, entrepreneurship, and marketable job skills training. At least 70% of the young people trained will participate in internships, be placed in jobs, gain incomegenerating self-employment, or engage in voluntary community service. The program is supported by a $1 million grant from Microsoft and is being implemented by IYF and local partner organizations in four countries: Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tanzania. Country programs include:

• KENYA: IYF is working with three NGO partners in Kenya to provide ICT, life skills, employability, and entrepreneurship training, job placement, and enterprise development services to 2,500 young people in the informal settlements around Nairobi. The three organizations have developed creative, innovative approaches to equipping disadvantaged young people with technology skills needed in the labor market, along with business planning know-how to create their own enterprises.
• NIGERIA: IYF is working with a consortium of NGOs, led by LEAP Africa, to offer life skills and job seeking skills as well as ICT training and placement services to 2,500 disadvantaged young people in Lagos, Kano, Bauchi, and Calabar. The US Embassy in Nigeria has joined the partnership to train Muslim youth in technology and employability skills in the northern part of the country.
• SENEGAL: Synapse Center, an NGO based in Dakar, is offering its “Passport to Employment” and “Impact” entrepreneurship programs to 2,200 young people in Dakar, Tambacounda, Thiès, and Saint-Louis. Youth participants include unemployed high school graduates, current students at training colleges and universities, and unemployed school drop-outs. The program’s job and internship placement and mentoring programs involve partners in the private, public, and non-profit sectors, including chambers of commerce, apprenticeship centers, and the National Agency for Youth Employment.
• TANZANIA: The Vocational Education & Training Authority (VETA) in Dar es Salaam is enrolling 2,800 disadvantaged young people, including 300 orphans and vulnerable children, in a one-year program that provides computer and ICT training, vocational skills, life skills, and entrepreneurship training. Students will also benefit from VETA’s “One Stop” career and placement center as part of the employability program.

Expected Outcomes

• 40,000 individuals reached
• 10,000 youth trained in ICT, life skills, and other marketable skills and assisted with job placement services, internships, community service, and entrepreneurship opportunities
• At least 70% of beneficiaries placed in internships, jobs, income-generating self-employment, and/or voluntary community service
• At least 6 local implementing organizations with enhanced capacity in project design, curriculum and materials development, life skills training, and monitoring and evaluation
• Regional and cross-organizational learning between local implementing partners

Partnerships

Donors: Microsoft, US Embassy in Nigeria, USAID Mission in Tanzania

IYF Contacts
LAURA BUREŠ, Program Director, Workforce Development in Africa
E-mail: l.bures@iyfnet.org

MARIE ANNE SLIWINSKI, Program Coordinator
E-mail: m.sliwinski@iyfnet.org