Sub-Saharan Africa added 15.4 million folks to its labour power between 2024/2025 and created 14.6 million jobs, but households of almost six in ten staff nonetheless dwell in poverty
That is in response to the Worldwide Labour Group 2026 Employment and Social Developments report.
The report highlights the persistent hole between job creation and poverty discount, emphasizing that labour market development within the area has not translated into widespread entry to productive or safe employment.
The ILO report highlights that sub-saharan Africa’s workforce is overwhelmingly casual. The workforce presently has almost 9 in ten staff in casual employment.
This contains jobs in agriculture, avenue buying and selling, home work, and small-scale companies that don’t present social safety, and infrequently pay low and unstable wages.
On account of this heavy reliance on casual work, shut to 6 in ten staff belong to households residing beneath the reasonable poverty threshold of lower than US$4.20 a day in buying energy parity phrases.
The report explains that the dearth of formal job creation in city areas, mixed with excessive ranges of agricultural employment, reinforces this cycle.
It notes that even because the labour power grows by 15.4 million, the formal sector is inadequate to soak up the employees.
The report highlighted the necessity to create productive employment and respectable jobs for brand new labour market entrants
“Sustained inhabitants development in sub-Saharan Africa underscores the pressing have to create productive employment and respectable jobs for brand new labour market entrants,” the ILO stated.
The report identifies training and abilities gaps as key contributors to poor labour market outcomes, particularly amongst youth.
“21 of African youth aged 15 to 29 have by no means attended faculty or have accomplished solely pre-primary training, whereas solely 46% have accomplished main or decrease secondary training as their highest stage of instructional attainment,” the report said
Restricted participation in technical and vocational training and coaching additionally compounds the issue.
“Solely 6.5 per cent of youth aged 15 to 29 have accomplished a technical and vocational training and coaching programme,” the report said.
These gaps restrict entry to productive employment and deepen youth unemployment. The ILO stresses the necessity to enhance entry to skills-based training and work-based studying, resembling apprenticeships and internships, that are essential for serving to younger folks safe respectable work and addressing persistent abilities mismatches within the labour market.
The ILO report highlights that enhancements within the high quality of employment have slowed globally over the previous 20 years.
“Between 2015 and 2025, the share of staff residing in excessive poverty declined by solely 3.1 share factors, to 7.9%, in contrast with a decline of 15 share factors within the earlier decade leaving 284 million staff residing on lower than US$3.00 a day,” the report said
Each excessive and reasonable working poverty charges elevated in low-income international locations throughout the identical interval, with virtually 68% of staff residing in excessive or reasonable poverty in 2025.
Casual employment is on the rise globally. By 2026, 2.1 billion staff globally are projected to be informally employed. The ILO notes that the slowdown within the transformation of economies in the direction of sectors with extra productive staff and higher working circumstances acts as a serious roadblock in guaranteeing regular progress in narrowing respectable work deficits.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, has begun implementing training and labour market reforms in response to those challenges.
In early 2025, the Federal Authorities up to date the essential training curriculum to incorporate 15 new commerce topics designed to present college students sensible abilities that align with trade wants and enhance their employability. This effort intends to make sure learners graduate with abilities they will use immediately within the workforce or to begin their very own ventures.
On the identical time, the Federal Ministry of Schooling rolled out a nationwide Technical and Vocational Schooling and Coaching (TVET) programme and accreditation of vocational centres to equip Nigerians with market related abilities.
To help trainees, the federal government additionally constructed {financial} incentives into the TVET system
Past fundamental and vocational training, the federal authorities has financed giant‑scale youth abilities coaching initiatives.