What Works for Youth Employment in Africa

• Policy Brief 272
• Working Paper 2023-18
• Review-Working paper 2025-12
• Policy Paper 2023-01
• Scale Measurement

• The centralization of youth employment policies and related programmes (YEPs), under one
  ministry can minimize programme duplication and strengthen coordination across youth-
  related agencies and government units.
• The consideration of exit strategies for beneficiaries at the early stages of YEP design can
  ensure the creation of long-lasting jobs for youth when they leave a programme.
• The institutionalization of impact evaluation for youth employment programmes, and the
  utilization of evaluation findings, can ensure efficient resource use and inform the design
  and implementation of sustainable YEPs in the future.

Country context summary  

•  Policy Brief 271
• Policy Brief 300
• Working Paper 2023-19
• Working Paper 2025-17
• Policy Paper 2023-02
• Scale Measurement

• There is a critical need for more and better-quality jobs for youth in Kenya.
• A centralized coordination framework can improve the implementation and awareness of YEPs
  in Kenya.
• Most current interventions focus on a single area, such as skills training, rather than
  addressing diverse and comprehensive aspects of the labour market.
• There is a need for more comprehensive programmes that address multiple youth employment challenges – as these
  are more effective.
• YEPs must integrate political analysis into their design and continual political engagement into their design and implementation.

•  Policy Brief 273
• Policy Brief 298 (French)
• Working Paper 2023-20 (French)
• Working Paper 2025-15
• Policy Paper 2023-06
• Scale Measurement

Nigerien youth need integrated, inclusive, quality actions and ongoing supervision to ensure
their social integration, economic fulfilment, and effective participation in Niger's development.
The review of relevant interventions suggests the following policy approaches.

• Priority support is needed for young entrepreneurs (graduates and those at a similar
  level) who have already started their own businesses. This is the policy option most likely
  to succeed for this group and to generate new jobs for youth.
• For out-of-school youth, an integrated approach that combines vocational training and
  integration is appropriate, but only if it is modern and of high quality and if it is based on
  consultation with social actors at all levels.
• Youth who are promoting their projects and programmes need a systematic, upstream
  communication plan to guarantee the inclusiveness of their actions.
• Having a single fund for the integration and promotion of youth employability with
  specific budget lines for each type of intervention makes it possible to pool efforts and
  strengthen the transparency and coordination of actions.

Country context summary 

• Policy Brief 275
• Policy Brief 302
• Working Paper 2023 -17
• Working Paper 2025-17
• Policy Paper 2023-04
• Scale Measurement

To address youth unemployment in Senegal and create a pathway to dignified and fulfilling
employment, the Government should integrate the national employment promotion strategy into
a development strategy for the 10 priority sectors identified in the country’s second Priority Action
Plan (PAP 2A).
Specifically:

• Ensure inclusive dialogue with the private sector on key bottlenecks and imperatives for
  scalable solutions for youth employment;
• Reorient technical and vocational education and training (TVET) towards professions that
  are essential for the development of the 10 priority sectors identified in the PAP 2A

•  Policy Brief 274
• Policy Brief 299
• Working Paper 2023-21
• Working Paper 2025-16
• Policy Paper 2023-25
• Scale Measurement

Providing a financial grant for entrepreneurs is a good value and effective way to promote
youth employment.

• Incorporating inclusiveness criteria ( giving women and other marginalized groups a
  greater opportunity to participate) is necessary for the success of this policy option.
• Improving the governance and coordination of youth employment policies is needed to
  ensure the feasibility of intervention programmes.
• Establishing a resource mobilization strategy can increase the effectiveness of youth
  employment policies.

• Policy Brief 289
• Policy Brief 301
• Working paper 2025-18
• Policy Paper
• Scale Measurement

Greater support and encouragement for Rwanda’s young entrepreneurs could enable them
to become job makers, rather than job seekers.

• Improved partnership between public and private operators, as well as with other skills-
  development partners can help to bridge the current gaps between education and
  employment, and therefore, enhance youth employment.
• Increased funding for youth employment programmes is vital to solving Rwanda’s youth unemployment challenges.
• A communication policy that is aligned with Rwanda’s ambitions for youth employment
  programmes through, for example, the use of community structures and authorities, could
  improve their inclusion of marginalized young people.
• Stronger coordination across Rwanda’s different youth employment programmes would
  enable the government to improve their effectiveness.

• Policy Brief 296
• Working paper 2025-13
• Policy Paper
• Scale Measurement

• Set clear targets and allocate sufficient resources to improve youth employment programmes (YEPs).
• Implement regular monitoring and evaluation to track progress and guide improvement.
• Build strong data systems for evidence-based decision-making and accountability.
• Strengthen institutional coordination to sustain and scale YEPs.
• Ensure vulnerable youth are included in programme design and implementation for greater equity.

Country context summary - phase I 

Country context summary - phase II

•  Policy Brief 276
• Policy Brief 304
• Working Paper 2023-16
• Working Paper 2025-21
• Policy Paper 2023-02
• Scale Measurement

Many of Uganda’s youth— particularly young women— are not in education, employment,
or training.

• Of those who are working, the majority are in vulnerable employment.
• Uganda has initiated several youth employment programmes providing funds, financing
  and training targeted to various youth populations.
• The programmes are individually quite effiective but overall disjointed, limiting their effiect on
  reducing the youth unemployment rate.
• Urgent and speciffc policy interventions are needed to ensure that the challenges facing
  Uganda’s youth are addressed by the relevant authorities.

• Policy Brief 303
• Working paper 2025-20
• Policy Paper
• Scale Measurement

• South Africa faces a youth employment crisis, with unemployment between 45–65%.
• Structural barriers—slow growth, regulation, and limited small-business support—hinder progress.
• Many youth programmes show weak results due to poor coordination and limited evaluation.
• Strengthen policy coherence, monitoring, and accountability across institutions.
• Promote inclusive growth and entrepreneurship to expand decent work for young people.

• Policy Brief 297
• Working paper 2025-14
• Policy Paper
• Scale Measurement

1. Establish a permanent youth employment research program
   A dedicated, long-term research program on youth employment is crucial to enhance the impact of employment policies targeting young people. Such a centre would help evaluate programmes, identify high-potential job sectors, and ensure that training aligns with labour-market demand.
2. Ensure broad stakeholder participation
   The active involvement of all stakeholders — including beneficiaries — is essential to guarantee the sustainability and effectiveness of employment programmes for youth, women, and marginalized groups.
3. Promote accountability through systematic monitoring and evaluation
   Integrating a “monitoring and evaluation” strategy into all youth-employment initiatives would strengthen accountability, allow systematic learning from best practices, and continuously improve future interventions.