Youth Employment in Africa: An Interview with Dr. Shanta Devarajan?Part II

Dr. Shanta Devarajan, the chief economist of the Africa Region with the World Bank, recently sat down with emerging market investment consultant Wilmot Allen to discuss youth employment in sub-Saharan Africa. Part II appears today; Part I appeared on Wednesday.?

Dr. Shanta Devarajan, the chief economist of the Africa Region with the World Bank, recently sat down with emerging market investment consultant Wilmot Allen to discuss youth employment in sub-Saharan Africa. Part II appears today; Part I appeared on Wednesday.?

The international community has undertaken gender equality as an important initiative for addressing population growth, workforce development and economic development. The results of these efforts are apparent especially in the area of literacy, where in last two decades literacy rates for young females rose from 58 percent to 66.6 percent, compared to 72 percent to 78.4 percent for young men. How is the World Bank specifically addressing gender equality, particularly among young African women?

The World Bank is addressing gender equality by going beyond primary education, where as you say, there has been remarkable progress. We are strengthening women's access to secondary and tertiary education. More importantly, we are helping women entrepreneurs succeed by supporting their property rights, access to finance and complementary services. Research shows that women farmers, for instance, are as productive as male farmers when they have equal access to inputs. Finally, we are also trying to strengthen women's voice and agency, both within the household and in the community.

According to the UN, in 2009 the youth unemployment rate was at 11.9 percent in sub- Saharan Africa and 23.7 percent in North Africa, with young females being particularly adversely affected. Youth entrepreneurship is one approach to addressing youth unemployment in Africa. How can entrepreneurship be supported in sub-Saharan Africa and has the World Bank taken specific targeted action in this regard?

First, unemployment statistics are not a good indicator of the employment challenge in low-income Africa. The fact is that most African youth cannot afford to be unemployed. Instead, they work in the informal sector in low-productivity jobs. Entrepreneurship should be targeted at increasing the productivity of these people in the informal sector. The World Bank has been supporting youth employment programs that include apprenticeships, training, and mentoring, so these young people can start their own businesses or join an existing business. We have also been evaluating these programs to see what works and what doesn't. For instance, we found that the returns to women were much lower, because they entered low-paying professions such as sewing and tailoring. But when one enterprising woman created an all-female auto repair shop, the women who joined it earned significantly more.

How can the larger African diaspora, situated both within the continent and without, collaborate in promoting youth employment in sub-Saharan Africa?

The diaspora can help in several ways. First, they can support the education initiatives to boost the skills of young people entering the labor force. Second, they can bring their expertise to bear on entrepreneurship training for young Africans. Some successful business people have set up subsidiaries in Africa that train and develop budding entrepreneurs. Finally, they can lobby African governments to enact policies (and remove existing restrictions) that will boost productivity of African enterprises, including those in the informal sector.

Shantayanan Devarajan is the Chief Economist of the World Bank?s Africa Region. Since joining the World Bank in 1991, he has been a Principal Economist and Research Manager for Public Economics in the Development Research Group, and the Chief Economist of the Human Development Network, and of the South Asia Region. He was the director of the World Development Report 2004, Making Services Work for Poor People. Before 1991, he was on the faculty of Harvard University?s John F. Kennedy School of Government. The author or co-author of over 100 publications, Mr. Devarajan?s research covers public economics, trade policy, natural resources and the environment, and general equilibrium modeling of developing countries. Born in Sri Lanka, Mr. Devarajan received his B.A. in mathematics from Princeton University and his Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Wilmot Allen is Founder of 1 World Enterprises, an investment consultancy for emerging and frontier markets.?

Source: http://www.africa.com/blog/blog,youth_employment_in_africa_an_interview_with_drshanta_devarajan8212part_ii,863.html

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