The Africa Youth Employment Outlook 2026 outlines key shifts in young people’s pathways to work and the trends shaping the future.
The inaugural Africa Youth Employment Outlook 2026 launches today, the first of a series of reports aimed at deepening understanding of Africa’s evolving youth labour market.
The report provides insights into the state of youth employment across the continent, with a focus on how gender dynamics influence young people's access to work. It was produced by World Data Lab, a global data analytics firm, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation and the University of Cape Town’s Development Policy Research Unit.
Africa’s youth population is expected to continue increasing through the 2070s. This is in contrast to the rest of the world, where a population decline is projected. This presents an opportunity for Africa to position itself as the world’s future labour force, provided the right investments are made in education and skills to meet future demands.
The Africa Youth Employment Outlook 2026 is designed to inform and inspire this work. It provides in-depth insights into three major shifts influencing young Africans’ participation in the labour force, both now and in the decade ahead.
The first shift, “from work to study,” sees young Africans entering the labour market while still of school-going age (15–17 years old) and taking up predominantly low-paying, informal, agricultural work. Since this often occurs before their education is completed, it’s a trend that risks undermining long-term employment in more formal, higher-paying jobs.
The second shift, “from agriculture to services,” means that by 2033, the services sector will employ more young Africans than the agriculture sector for the first time, with 3.8 million more workers. Across Africa, youth jobs in the services sector are more likely to be formal (22%), compared with industry jobs (12%) and agricultural jobs (3%). The third shift, “from rural to urban,” will see urbanisation reshaping youth employment, with youth jobs shifting towards urban centres.
“Africa’s youth population continues to surge, positioning the continent as the world’s future talent engine. The 2026 Outlook report shows that, to harness this momentum, we must move beyond 'any work' to 'dignified and fulfilling work.' At the Mastercard Foundation, our mission remains to ensure that as young people in Africa seek opportunities, we enable them by equipping them with the specialised skills to not just fill jobs, but to thrive in an increasingly urbanised and digital landscape,” said Hannah Tsadik, Kenya Country Director, Mastercard Foundation.
On his part, Wolfgang Fengler, CEO & Co-Founder, World Data Lab, said, “This report builds on the Africa Youth Employment Clock, a labour market data model that tracks youth employment trends in Africa, laying an analytical foundation for understanding these trends.”
The report is structured into two parts: Part 1 provides an overview of the state of youth employment, and Part 2 examines gender trends with a focus on young women. These insights are set against the backdrop of Africa's demographic boom, which will see its 550 million young people (aged 15–35) – representing more than 22% of global youth – shape the world's labour trends in the coming decades.
Additionally, the report shows how young women continue to be excluded from the labour market more than young men and outlines the factors that contribute to this exclusion and limit young women’s participation.
The report, which is illustrated with key supporting data and contains examples across African countries, is available for download on africayouthjobs.io
