Abstract
Youth unemployment is not necessarily a new phenomenon in the world. It continues to be a challenge in several economies worldwide. However, the challenge in Africa is being compounded by the increasing population growth in the continent and very limited corresponding growth opportunities in industrialisation. From the perspective of formal employment, the public service continues to be the largest employer of labour and with dwindling resources, there appears to be a setback on employment opportunities and where they exist, there are hardly any consistent employment patterns. Political pay backs continue to be the order of the day. In essence, where employment is provided, it is hardly meaningful. The paper addressees the issue of limited opportunities to youth employment as a result of increasing demands for experienced and skilled labour by prospective employers in industry as well as those who lack the qualification for formal employment. Whilst the paper takes a broad view on the issue of unemployment in Sub-Saharan Africa, the major focus is on Nigeria, as a case study. This study is resulting from a recent empirical work in a related research. The research is based on analysis of recent industrial relations development and evidence from 11 companies from the western region of Nigeria. Despite the constraints of the research methodology, the findings emphasise the significant role actors in the labour market must assume in encouraging and developing career pathways to enhance youth employment and thus create a balanced development of human capital in various countries. Determining the factors which constitute the preferences (and therefore consents) and evaluating same from time to time, appears to serve as trajectory to tackling youth unemployment in Africa. The focus should be on what appears to be ‘working’ and efforts aimed at continuous improvement with the participation of all stakeholders, as opposed to a ‘trial and error’ approach.
