The African Development Bank (AfDB) pledged to create by 2025, 25 million now jobs across the continent with its new strategy which could benefit 50 million youth.

Entitled Jobs for Youth in Africa, the new strategy will focus on key strategic sectors like integration, innovation and investment.

Under the Innovation segment of the JfYA, AfDB will develop programmes in the agriculture, industrial and ICT sectors. The institution plans to establish an innovation center to develop solutions that improve job creation across Africa.

Among new tools to facilitate the implementation of macroeconomic policies which will stimulate job creation, the bank is developing an Enabling Youth Employment Index.

"We are integrating youth employment and entrepreneurship components into new Bank projects, and are working very closely with regional member countries to develop policies that promote decent jobs for youth," said Akinwumi Adesina, AfDB’s president.

Other initiatives such as the Empowering Novel Agri-Business-Led Employment (ENABLE), the African Youth Agripreneurs Forum (AYAF), are projects through which the AfDB is equipping young people with the relevant skills to become autonomous.

According to statistics, 60% of unemployed people in Africa are youth.

Fiacre E. Kakpo