An insight on Employment in Cameroon and Africa

Population growth and recent demographic changes draw sharp development focus on critical issues relating to youth employment and job creation for youth.

Africa has the youngest population in the world and by 2040 Africa’s labor force will be 1 billion making it the largest in the world; surpassing both China and India (McKinsey Global Institute, 2010).  Although many jobs have been created, there have not been enough to accommodate the number of young people in search of work.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that between 2000 and 2008 Africa created 73 million jobs, but only 16 million of these were for young people aged between 15 and 24. As a result, many young Africans find themselves Unemployed or, more frequently, UN der-employed in informal jobs with low productivity and pay.  This trend is not different from CAMEROON.

Unemployment falls among the many Cameroons’ development challenges like other less developed countries. However, the results of the survey on employment are quite disturbing, particularly in Cameroon, and the major contributing factor to low living standards, poverty, and misery among other problems facing young people in Cameroon today.

Cameroon’s national youth policy (2006) defines youth as persons between the age of 15 and 35. Youth (age 15 – 25) comprise 70% (percent) of CAMEROON’s population which translates to 17,500,000 individuals (Source National Youth Policy).  At least 57.1% of Cameroonians are estimated to be living below the poverty line.  unemployment has been identified, by the Government and people of CAMEROON, as one of the key development challenges confronting both women and youth, thus exacerbating vulnerability and poverty.  Among youth, unemployment stands at 30.5% with 74% having been unemployed for 6 months or more and 54% having been unemployed for more than 4 to 5 years of searching for a job.

According to the Director of Statistics, youths are unemployed due to the poor transition in the labor market as more employers now prefer less educated but skilled workers leading to certificate inflation and growing possibilities for multiple jobs have reduced employment prospects for new school leavers. site cause.

Young people in Cameroun face difficulties in accessing decent employment. Unemployment and underemployment levels are very high among young people. … Approximately 11% of youth aged 15 to 29 years are unemployed , particularly in urban areas. Underemployment affects approximately 94 % of young people aged 15 to 19 years and 84 % of those between 20 and 24 years.

The majority of job seekers abandon studies before completing the primary education (only 56% of the population that went to school also completed primary education). Since the advent of the economic crisis experienced by the country, the number of highly qualified young people without job prospects is of increasing concern.

In total 28.4% of adolescents [girls] aged 15 to 19 years had already had a child (22.7%) or were pregnant with their first child (5.7%). Over 40% of adolescents had already begun childbearing.

But this situation is further made worst by post COVID19 challenges and the Socio-Political “Anglophone” Crisis in Cameroon that has internally displaced over 1,200,000 Cameroonians in the North and South West Regions of Cameroon as IDPs to other Regions and rendered 650,000 refugees to other countries.

However, while the COVID19 Pandemic and the ongoing Socio-Political (Anglophone) Crisis in the North and South West Regions of Cameroon possess new threats to youth employment in Cameroon, some of the following factors have long contributed to the root causes of unemployment such as;

• – The CAMEROON’s education system is skewed towards academic qualifications rather than skills acquisition and does not match training to the requirements of the labor market, resulting in low levels of employable skills, further compounded by high dropout rates in the transitions from primary to secondary school, as well as from secondary to tertiary schools or institutes of higher learning.
• – Many students at the university level study subjects like history, geography, literature, etc. instead of professional courses.
• – Technical institutions and vocational skills development programs designed to provide employable skills to youth are poorly resourced; with inadequate infrastructure. Curricula have not been reviewed over years; lecturers and teachers have not upgraded their skills and the competence and expertise of graduates from these institutions/programs do not match industry skills requirements.
• – Poor information dissemination about job opportunities has favored unemployment in Cameroon.
• – Getting a job after school becomes difficult because of the lack of professional abilities hence unemployment is on the rise as over 16000 students graduate from our 7 state-owned Universities not counting private universities, and vocational and professional institutions every year.
• – The unfavorable business climate for the development of the private sector, low entrepreneurial culture and not enough support for entrepreneurial projects
• – The poor development of a creative economy in Cameroon and some parts of Africa, where young people develop careers through arts, media, and design, green jobs, sports, value addition for natural resources and ecotourism has constrained employment

Although the government’s efforts to address this problem in the past is greatly acknowledged and has been witnessed through youth employment schemes and structure put in place such as

• – National Youth Council, National Youth Civic Service Agency for participation in Development,
• – National Employment Fund,
• – PIAASI,
• – PAJER-U etc.,

But it is rather unfortunate that the impact of these structures and programs has had limited or no effect on youths as well as been able to address the rising youth employment challenges as they are poorly resourced and managed; with inadequate infrastructure. Furthermore, over 95% of youths graduating from our institutions have very little or no information about them and as the result, they seldom participate or partake in such programs.

The National Youth Policy (NYP) of Cameroon identifies the leading causes of youth unemployment as:

• – The mismatch of training and employment;
• – Discrimination in the labor market;
• – Weak capacity for startups;
• – Inaccessible and non-affordable key production inputs, particularly, land, credit, and information on innovations.

Consequently, social ills like sex work (Prostitution), high crime waves, and Cybercrimes (scammers) have increased, and furthermore, Prisons have, moreover, become crowded with many so-called ‘third generation’ social ills. These youths are pushed into doing all these due to the growing rate of unemployment.

read more about Employment

• The National Youth Employment Forum (NYEF)
• Technology for Employment Planning and Recruitment Management  (TECH4EPRM)
• Youth Solidarity and Civic Engagement in Local Development (YOSCELD) PROGRAM