Creating Jobs in Africa’s Fragile States
Publisher: Nora Dudwick and Radhika Srinivasan, with Jose Cuesta and Dorsati Madani, The World Bank
Date: 2013
In no part of the world does the need to generate employment combine more urgently with the need for stability than in Sub-Saharan Africa, home to the world’s largest cluster of fragile states. This fragility reflects a history of often brutal colonial rule that imposed foreign institutions on indigenous populations for the purpose of extracting natural resources and tax revenues. Today, many African countries are characterized by weak governments, polarized political systems, undeveloped domestic markets, reliance on one or only a few export commodities, and significant dependence on external sources of funds and legitimacy. Although the number of violent armed conflicts has decreased in the past few decades, many Sub-Saharan African countries remain trapped in a process aptly labelled “development in reverse.” (Collier et al 2003)
It is difficult to prove a direct causal link from un- or underemployment to conflict. Yet few African policy makers question the relationship between their ability to support economic opportunity on the one hand, and the maintenance of social and political stability on the other. The large numbers of youth who enter the labor market every year merely compound this challenge. Yet while the challenge is huge, the fact is that Africa possesses considerable natural resource wealth and agricultural potential.
This report builds on recent work by the World Bank (2011), including The World Development Report 2011: Conflict, Violence, and Security (henceforth WDR 2011); studies of youth employment in Africa; and work on agribusiness in Africa. The text first reviews World Bank and other donor activities directed at generating employment in fragile and conflict-affected countries, particularly, but not only, those in Sub-Saharan Africa. The concluding section summarizes emerging evidence that shows value chain development, a proactive approach to private sector development, can generate economic opportunity as well as rebuild social cohesion.