Demystifying Africa #4: Reasons behind unemployment among graduates
According to a report from the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), 50% of graduates in Africa do not find work each year. Moreover, according to a study in 2021, South Africa, Nigeria and Namibia rank as the countries with the highest rates of unemployment in the world for graduate and non-graduate job seekers. In a report published in 2021 by University World News, there were 1,682 universities in Africa in 2018, up from 784 in 2000 and 294 in 1980. This is an estimated +215% increase in 18 years. The data indicate that although Africans today have access to increasing opportunities for higher education, unemployment rates across the African continent continue to rise due to the mismatch between labour market needs and the current education available.
Unemployment is a general problem in Africa, and the statistics only get worse in particular cases. In 2021, data from Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) showed that in Ghana, it takes an average of five years to get a job after leaving school. Most job seekers either do odd jobs or further their education during that time. According to some articles, Nigeria alone has about 25 million graduates who are still unemployed. With over 134 Polytechnics and 174 Universities in the country, there is a yearly output of over 600,000 graduates without equally existing job opportunities.
Causes of unemployment among graduates in Africa
According to an article by MDPI, one of the largest obstacles that contribute towards the high unemployment rate throughout the African continent is a mismatch between labour market skill demand and the education of African graduates. The African Development Bank Group (AFDB) and many other reports indicate the issue stems largely from the African higher education system itself. They point out the fact that even though there is an increase in the quantity of higher education available, the quality of education that is provided by the institutes are not on par with the market requirement. This, in turn, causes many graduate students to join the labour market with skills and qualifications that do not correspond to the requirements of available jobs in the market.
Another contributing factor is that employers are often looking for applicants with the proper experience and skills, which further exacerbates the issue. By solely seeking experienced employees, the employers deny the new generation of graduates the opportunity to work in their proper practice where they would be able to build up their experience and provide future contributions towards the job market. To combat these problems, higher education institutions and government bodies in different African countries need to band together and create more programs that will help curb these issues in the mismatch between education and job requirement.
Real testimonies of graduate student’s views of the current labour market
According to Osaeti Idemudia, a graduate of Economics from Ekpoma State University, “there are no jobs at all, and with the strike actions, stopping academic activities altogether, students spend more time in school than they bargained for. This makes issues like age, experience, and skills become a problem even for the available jobs. I have had to rely on the barbering and hair making skills that I learned while helping my mum in her shop to survive in this country. The recruitment sites online show a lot of advertisements for jobs available but even after applying and sending emails to a wide range of companies, you hardly ever get a reply, or they reply saying you don’t have the range of experience they are looking for. How will I get the experience if I don’t get a job?”
From this perspective, one of the leading causes of the unemployment of graduates in Africa is the reality of too few jobs for too many graduates. This supports the ideas shared by the authors of the articles above.
Another example, Grace Oyebanjo, a student of English from Lagos State University (LASU) laments the same fate but from a different angle. She says, “I check sites like Jobberman, LinkedIn, HotNigerianJobs and some other sites like that. It can be very frustrating because you must apply for like a dozen jobs and even then, you cannot be sure of getting one. On LinkedIn, for instance, you can be applying for a job and see that you are one out of over 300 other applicants — your chances of getting the job are already cut short.” When asked about how she handles this situation, she said, “I have been doing online writing gigs on Fiverr and other sites like Upwork. Sometimes, there are not a lot of these gigs, but I use it to survive.”
In conclusion
As we can see, the issue of unemployment among university graduates is deeply rooted and the future of the next generation is dependent on new opportunities that can potentially arise across the continent. With the lack of entry-level positions available and employers seeking experienced applications, this situation is further exacerbating the unemployment crisis in African countries. To combat these dire situations, we at Jambo believe that one of the possible solutions lies in the development of web3 over the next decade to come.
About Jambo
Jambo is building the Web3 super app that will educate, bank and entertain the continent. Jambo aims to pioneer the largest, most influential Web3 user acquisition portal across the continent and serve as the bridge between Africa and applications from around the world seeking to tap into the African market. The opportunity here is immense. We have a long-term vision of realizing financial prosperity for Africans.
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