Africa is the youngest and fastest-growing continent in the world. By 2030, there will be 375 million young people in its job market. However, there is a significant lack of employment opportunities that young people deem dignified and fulfilling. Youth unemployment rates are as high as 65% in South Africa, and 80% in Djibouti.

The Mastercard Foundation‘s definition of dignified and fulfilling work is based on four markers: reliable income, a sense of purpose, reputation, and respect in the workplace. When at least one of these markers is present, an individual is on a trajectory to having dignified and fulfilling employment.

The Youth Employment Evidence and Insights Hub 

Hosted by PACE, the hub is composed of key organizations from across and beyond Africa, whose expertise and experience will help deliver evidence and insights on a range of issues related to youth employment in Africa. The hub is working in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation in the delivery of the Young Africa Works Strategy, which focuses on youth employment across the thematic areas of entrepreneurship, agriculture, digital economy, finance, health, and education.

The Strategy sets out an ambitious goal of enabling 30 million young people in Africa, especially young women, to secure employment that they see as dignified and fulfilling. Through the integration of local and living evidence, and youth voices, the Hub is supporting the Mastercard Foundation in making evidence-informed strategic, programming, and investment decisions to help millions of young people find a pathway out of poverty.

Driving transformative change through innovation 

In a rapidly evolving social world, the work environment is also constantly changing and calling for more data-driven, creative solutions. Young people want to be a part of this transformation and believe in the power of innovation and technology to drive forth their vision for a more inclusive future. To this end, the consortium is striving to innovate and champion African youth voices at every stage in their collaboration with the Mastercard Foundation – from generating the evidence, all the way to communicating it back to the community.

Being inclusive communicators

The hub is unique in its deliberate and consistent inclusion of youth voices and Indigenous ways of knowing, through their engagement and amplification at all stages of evidence production. To this end, the partners are working to ensure that the evidence resonates with Africa’s most excluded communities.

Meet the Consortium

• ACRES
• Africa Evidence Network (AEN)
• CommsConsult Ltd
• eBASE Africa
• Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI)
• Future Evidence Foundation
• LARTES-IFAN
• Pan-African Collective for Evidence (PACE)
• PACKS Africa

By providing evidence-informed solutions and championing youth voices, the hub aims to help millions of young people find dignified and fulfilling employment.