Africa struggles with unemployment
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MARK AUSTIN THOMAS: African officials meet in Addis Ababa this week. One item on the agenda is a new report which looks at the continent’s problem of severe unemployment. Alisa Roth has the story.
ALISA ROTH: More than 10 percent of Africans are unemployed. For young workers, the situation’s even worse: 20 percent of those under 25 don’t have a job.
Princeton Lyman of the Council on Foreign Relations says Africa needs to get more involved in the global economy.
PRINCETON LYMAN: That means building up their trade capacity, improving the education levels and improving the infrastructure.
But unemployment isn’t just an economic concern. The Eurasia Group’s Philippe de Pontet says it’s a security issue as well.
PHILIPPE DE PONTET: A very high percentage of youthful males who don’t have productive employment and very few prospects of such employment, that’s gonna build up a lot of frustration. That’s gonna, in some cases, that will lead to social strife.
The report recommends African countries need to build up economic sectors with more employment opportunities — areas like manufacturing and service industries.
In New York, I’m Alisa Roth for Marketplace.
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