GovInn and CIRAD research fellow and PhD student Pierre Girard wrote an article for the University of the Witwatersrand’s Global Labour Column at the end of 2017. His article, entitled “But where are the workers? How the youth entrepreneur model fails in Africa” looks at the institutional structures in place to support youth employment in Africa, and where the continent is failing to ensure that entrepreneurs on the continent are properly supported.

The figures are now well known: 375 million young people will reach working age in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030, and for many their livelihoods will depend mainly on the rural economy (Losch, 2016). Facing the massive generation of activity required by these demographic dynamics, entrepreneurship has become the leitmotiv of many donors’ and NGOs’ programmes and projects, as well as public policies. According to them, the multiplication of entrepreneurs can meet the employment challenge in the African countryside.

The article can be read in its entirety here. Or see below for the PDF version.

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