102nd International Labour Conference: African Union calls for more investment to promote jobs in Africa

Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, the first woman to head the African Union Commission, urged African Member States and international partners to invest more in order to promote job creation in the region.

ILO, 17 June 2013

GENEVA (ILO News) – The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, has called for more investment to promote job creation, achieve inclusive growth and eradicate poverty in a continent which in the next fifty years will be home to 1.1 billion workers – more than a third of the global workforce.

“We are determined to step up our efforts to promote job creation, work for the eradication of poverty, achieve growth and allow equitable distribution, particularly for women and the youth,” said Zuma in her first address to the International Labour Conference.

Africa has managed to resist well to internal and external shocks and is expected to grow by 4.8 per cent in 2013 and 5.3 per cent in 2014. But according to Zuma, there are significant challenges ahead.

“By all estimates, our continent is a continent of young people, and it is getting younger. By 2025, it is estimated that the African youth will make up one-quarter of the world’s population. By 2040, half of the world’s youth population will be African, the majority of which will be women and girls. This means that in the next fifty years, approximately 1.1 billion of the global workforce will be African,” she said, calling for more investments in African agriculture, infrastructure, small and medium enterprises, sea transportation, energy, information and communications technology, and tourism.
ILO Director-General Guy Ryder welcomed Zuma to the ILC and said: “Africa is rising. It is also encouraging to see African economies growing and African countries bringing down poverty levels and progressing on the decent work agenda. Yet, jobless growth is a challenge to the continent.”
Ryder said the ILO is committed to continue to work hand in hand with the African Union and its African social partners to make decent work for all a reality in the continent. 

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