scholarly journals The Dynamics of Job Creation and Job Destruction: Is Sub-Saharan Africa Different?

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Admasu Shiferaw ◽  
Arjun S. Bedi
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Pablo Rud ◽  
Ija Trapeznikova

Abstract Least developed economies are characterised by poorly functioning labour markets: only a small fraction of workers is in paid employment, where productivity and wages are low. We incorporate a standard search framework into a two-sector model of development to assess the importance of different obstacles to job creation and productivity. The model provides new insights in the characterisation of poorly developed labour markets that are observed in the data, such as high wage dispersion. We estimate the model using micro data for six countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and highlight the empirical relevance of labour market frictions, entry costs and skills.


Author(s):  
Schwebel David ◽  
Elisenda Elisenda ◽  
Peter Wobst ◽  
Ileana Grandelis

A qualitative analytical framework, policy discourse analysis, is applied to understand the prevalence of youth-targeting in national policies related to employment. Forty-seven policies from 13 Sub-Saharan African countries promulgated in 1996 to 2016 were selected for the evaluation, based on their direct or indirect relevance to youth employment via themes of development, rural transformation, and agriculture. The main findings show that policies focus more on promoting labour supply strategies, e.g. training programmes on entrepreneurship skills, rather than demand-side ones—such as reducing the constraints to business development and job creation at the sectoral level. Policies rarely touch on known constraints faced by youth, like their limited engagement in agribusiness activities and representation in policy dialogues. SSA policies with a youth employment lens associated to the different pillars of the Decent Work Agenda are assessed.


Author(s):  
Donald L Sparks ◽  
Stephen T. Barnett

Over the past twenty years or so, there has been a debate that basically asks “…whether the informal sector should really be seen as a marginalized, ‘survival’ sector, which mops up excess or entrenched workers, or as a vibrant, entrepreneurial part of the economy which can stimulate economic growth and job creation.” (African Union 2008). This paper argues the latter. Further, this paper argues that employment in the informal sector is no longer a journey, but has become the destination of many. If the aim is to create jobs and reduce poverty, the informal sector must be included in the debate. Indeed, this paper recommends that the debate about the advantages of formal sector vs. the informal sector needs to end.  Governments need to unequivocally recognize and admit the importance of the informal sector and finds ways to encourage its growth. They also need, at the same time, to decide how to strengthen the formal sector and extend benefits to those in the informal sector, while removing barriers to the formal sector to allow more to participate.  Specifically, there are at least five major areas where changes need to be made:  1) Establish an enabling environment and supportive regulatory framework, 2) Provide access to appropriate training, 3) Improve basic facilities and amenities and infrastructure, 4) Increase ability to obtain property title and access to credit, and 5) Improve national databases and establish uniform standards.


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (01) ◽  
pp. 1850001 ◽  
Author(s):  
KWAME ADOM ◽  
NEWMAN CHIRI ◽  
DANIEL QUAYE ◽  
KWASI AWUAH-WEREKOH

This paper assesses the impact of Ghanaian culture on the entrepreneurial disposition of Higher National Diploma (HND) graduates of Accra Polytechnic from 2007 to 2012. Since the turn of the millennium, there has been more attention given to job creation than job seeking, especially among the youth, to address unemployment in developing countries. This is because of governments' inability to match the growing number of job seekers to job creation across the globe. One way to address this deficit in Ghana is the introduction of courses in entrepreneurship in almost all tertiary institutions, coupled with the setting up of institutions such as Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Development Agency (GYEEDA), National Youth Employment Program (NYEP), Youth Entrepreneurship Agency (YEA), Youth Entrepreneurship Support (YES), among others. Reporting on 2015 data from Accra, the main finding was that collectivistic culture has negative effects on capital accumulation, human resource management and the urgency the unemployed graduates attached to self-employment. Therefore, this paper calls for some ways to address the issue of graduates' inability to be enterprising.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Rokhideh

Cross-border trade plays a prominent role in economic, social, and political life in Sub-Saharan Africa, contributing significantly to development, poverty reduction, and job creation. Across the continent, cross-border trade accounts for 43 percent of the entire population’s income. As actors embedded in licit and illicit networks at local and regional levels, cross-border traders have the potential to fuel conflict or mitigate it. They can act as spoilers, supporting armed groups and war economies, or as peace intermediaries, negotiating peace deals and bridging conflict divides across communities. Given that most armed conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa are shaped by cross-border dynamics, cross-border traders present an underexamined yet critical point of entry for analyzing and addressing conflicts and should be included in new and ongoing peacebuilding programming. This policy note provides recommendations on how policymakers can leverage the untapped peacebuilding potential of cross-border traders and decrease their spoiling power.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 4717 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tito Francisco Ianda ◽  
Emerson Andrade Sales ◽  
Ademar Nogueira Nascimento ◽  
Antonio Domingos Padula

Sub-Saharan African countries present chronic energy shortages and heavy reliance on oil imports for diesel. The small demand and high production costs in some countries have compromised the economic feasibility of the biodiesel industry in the region. Therefore, to overcome these limitations a model of “multi-countries” cooperated production and consumption of biodiesel was proposed for a group of seven neighboring countries. The model explored linear programming and simulations to the problem of minimizing biodiesel production costs considering different types of production and demand restrictions. The data processing was realized using the Solver and Linear Interactive Discrete Optimizer software (LINDO). The simulations and scenarios revealed that palm oil is the crop that minimize the production costs (US$0.82/L) and that, although jatropha was classified in the second place (US$1.05/L), it is the crop with the biggest job creation potential (5.0 times that of the palm oil seeds). These results reveal the presence of a trade-off in the strategy and the choice between different oilseeds: (a) to produce biodiesel from the crop with minimal costs (palm oil) or (b) to choose the one that has the biggest potential for job creation (jatropha). Considering the diesel price between US$0.60 and US$1.14/L at service stations in the region in 2016, both the biodiesel from palm oil and jatropha will need subsidies and fiscal incentives (tax reductions) to be competitive in the fuel market (diesel). The volume of biodiesel to supply the B10 demand in 2031 has the potential to reduce US$ 1.98 billion/year of the expenses on oil imports. It is worth observing that this decision-support model adds the “multi-countries” cooperation perspective as a contribution to the methodological and political approaches about biofuels production and consumption and can be exploited as a starting point for the formulation of policies, strategies, and investment decisions for the establishment of biodiesel production programs.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
pp. 533-537
Author(s):  
Lorenz von Seidlein ◽  
Borimas Hanboonkunupakarn ◽  
Podjanee Jittmala ◽  
Sasithon Pukrittayakamee

RTS,S/AS01 is the most advanced vaccine to prevent malaria. It is safe and moderately effective. A large pivotal phase III trial in over 15 000 young children in sub-Saharan Africa completed in 2014 showed that the vaccine could protect around one-third of children (aged 5–17 months) and one-fourth of infants (aged 6–12 weeks) from uncomplicated falciparum malaria. The European Medicines Agency approved licensing and programmatic roll-out of the RTSS vaccine in malaria endemic countries in sub-Saharan Africa. WHO is planning further studies in a large Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme, in more than 400 000 young African children. With the changing malaria epidemiology in Africa resulting in older children at risk, alternative modes of employment are under evaluation, for example the use of RTS,S/AS01 in older children as part of seasonal malaria prophylaxis. Another strategy is combining mass drug administrations with mass vaccine campaigns for all age groups in regional malaria elimination campaigns. A phase II trial is ongoing to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the RTSS in combination with antimalarial drugs in Thailand. Such novel approaches aim to extract the maximum benefit from the well-documented, short-lasting protective efficacy of RTS,S/AS01.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document