UNECA: Economic Report on Africa 2005
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa release its annual “Economic Report on Africa†for 2005. The report paints bleak economic outlook for Africa. The reports begins with the following statement:
With the highest incidence of poverty in the world, Africa urgently needs to create more employment and thus tackle the scourge of hunger, malnutrition and the overall low living standards the continent continues to witness. Indeed, unemployment is one of the greatest challenges to Africa’s development, with an estimated 10.9 per cent and 10.4 per cent of job seekers unemployed in 2003 in Sub-Saharan and North Africa, respectively. These are respectively the second and third highest unemployment rates in the world, with the Middle East region experiencing the highest rate.
But the picture is even bleaker than these averages suggest, for they do not include the large numbers of working poor and those who have given up trying to find decent employment and are therefore not counted. Furthermore, these rates do not reveal the uneven distribution of unemployment across countries and regions, and within countries, age and gender groups. Based on the current demographic trends, it is estimated that Africa would need to create about 8 million new jobs every year in order to absorb the rising numbers of job seekers.
I have not had sufficient time to read the entire report. Hence, I cannot make an educated comment about it just yet. It is almost three hundred pages long… I guess I will be busy reading this weekend.
Click here to view or download the entire report on ECA website.