ITUC-Africa demands youth employment, living wages, decent jobs

The African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa) has called on African governments to prioritise the creation of decent jobs and ensure living wages as part of efforts to tackle youth unemployment across the continent.

ITUC-Africa made the call in a statement by its general secretary, Akhator Joel Odigie, to mark the World Day for Decent Work.

The organisation said Africa’s youthful population should be an advantage for the continent, but millions of young people were instead struggling in informal, unstable and poorly paid jobs.

It warned that low youth unemployment figures in sub-Saharan Africa should not be interpreted as evidence of success, noting that many young people could not afford to remain unemployed and were therefore forced into precarious work.

According to ITUC-Africa, nearly nine in 10 young workers in low- and lower-middle-income countries are in informal employment, citing the International Labour Organisation’s Global Employment Trends for Youth 2026.

Odigie said the situation had created a significant decent work deficit, with many young workers lacking employment contracts, social protection, safe working conditions and effective representation.

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He also raised concerns over young Africans being pushed towards dangerous migration routes in search of better opportunities, while others faced exploitation in platform and gig work.

The organisation said young women faced an additional burden of discrimination and gender-based violence at work.

ITUC-Africa general secretary called on African governments, the African Union, regional economic communities and employers to place decent job creation at the centre of economic policy through industrial policies and structural transformation.

He specifically called for living wages and universal social protection for all workers, including young, informal, migrant and platform workers.

The body also urged governments to ensure fair and safe labour migration, protect African migrant workers and tackle Afrophobia and xenophobia.

It called for greater mobilisation of domestic resources by tackling illicit financial flows and the continent’s debt burden, which it said drained public investment in jobs, education and healthcare.

ITUC-Africa further urged its affiliates to intensify efforts to organise young workers, open leadership spaces to them and ensure that trade unions remained accessible to the next generation of African workers.

“Decent work is a right,” the organisation said, stressing that Africa’s youth deserved a future built on dignity, justice and hope.