COVID-19 in Africa: an additional challenge and opportunity for change
While it is too early to predict the full impact of COVID-19 on Africa, it is clear that there are both causes for concern and opportunities for positive change. Beyond its health impacts, the pandemic is already having severe socioeconomic consequences, including in terms of increased unemployment, loss of income, and wealth depletion. At the same time, it has demonstrated the increasing importance of digital technology worldwide to responding effectively to crises and planning for recovery. This global crisis therefore also has the potential to accelerate the continent's digital transformation and to create decent and resilient digital jobs in Africa.
Impact on youth employment and skills development
The socioeconomic repercussions of the pandemic are hitting young people everywhere faster and harder than other age groups. Young Africans are facing multiple shocks, including disruptions to education, training, and on-the-job learning; employment and income losses due to lay-offs and reduced working hours; and greater difficulties in finding good quality jobs. They are also more vulnerable because of high youth working poverty rates, and because they are overrepresented in less protected forms of work and in sectors most at risk of disruption due to COVID-19. Young women are facing an increasing double burden to manage both paid work and unpaid care and household work due to widespread school closures. Other vulnerable and marginalized youth, such as young people with disabilities or young refugees or displaced persons, are facing additional hardships on top of the barriers they face to accessing learning and decent work opportunities.
Accelerated digital transformation as an opportunity
Despite its associated challenges, the crisis also represents an opportunity for transformative change. Young people are Africa's most important source of human capital and driver of development. The success of countries' response to this crisis, the sustainability of their recovery, and the achievement of their long-term development goals will depend on skilled and healthy young people contributing their labour, ideas and expertise.
The pandemic has shown that digital technology is becoming increasingly important to every economy, having the potential to positively impact labour demand, supply and intermediation if properly applied. Even before the crisis an estimated 230 million digital jobs were projected to be created in Africa by 2030, but to fill them would also require some 650 million more training opportunities to be created. Online retailing and the digital trade in services were already on the rise in Africa before the crisis, and European and other markets are also further opening up to digitally provided services. These global and regional developments could result in increased opportunities for young Africans to innovate, engage in e-commerce or work in digital jobs servicing both intra-African and overseas markets.
Boosting decent jobs and enhancing skills for youth in Africa's digital economy
Now, more than ever, it is crucial to invest in youth employment and digital skills development in order to accelerate and leverage Africa's digital transformation to effectively respond to the additional challenges posed by COVID-19 and to ensure an inclusive and sustainable long-term recovery. The ILO and ITU, with the support of the AU, have launched a programme with continental reach to create decent employment and enhance skills for youth in Africa's digital economy. Find out more here.
