Mastercard Foundation, in partnership with the World Data Lab, has launched the African Youth Employment Clock in Nigeria, aiming to create 30 million jobs across Africa by 2030.
The African Youth Employment Clock is a data-driven tool designed to monitor youth job growth and predict employment trends across the continent until 2030.
Speaking during the unveiling on Tuesday in Abuja, Abubakar Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, noted that the initiative aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which emphasizes industrialization and job creation.
Bagudu emphasized the importance of the clock in shaping Nigeria’s economic strategy, noting that it would assist in creating a more prosperous future for the nation’s youth by helping design long-term employment solutions.
By democratizing access to data, it aims to inform both public and private sector decisions related to job creation and economic planning.
“This tool will support our efforts to move quickly in addressing youth unemployment,” said Bagudu, stressing that the initiative would help overcome misleading data often produced by external agencies, ensuring a better representation of African realities.
Nkiruka Onyejeocha, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, said Africa’s rising unemployment, especially among its youth, requires immediate and innovative action to avoid severe consequences.
Onyejeocha highlighted the Federal Government’s approach, which includes economic diversification, skill acquisition programs, support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and the engagement of the private sector in job creation.
“Currently, an estimated 245 million young Africans are unemployed, and this figure could increase to over 297 million by 2030 without decisive action,” she warned, stressing that entrepreneurship and job creation programs are central to the government’s new labour market agenda.
Earlier, Rosy Fynn, Country Director for the Mastercard Foundation in Nigeria, emphasized that the 30 million jobs the initiative aims to create would be meaningful and dignified, with many opportunities expected in the service sector.
Fynn called for systems and funding mechanisms that will allow young entrepreneurs to thrive in this space.
Also speaking, Reshma Sheoraj, Vice President of Strategic Engagements at World Data Lab, explained that the data model deployed by the African Youth Employment Clock is designed to track job trends on a national and sub-national level.
She expressed the organization’s commitment to providing decision-makers with reliable data to drive change and create sustainable employment for Africa’s growing workforce.
The project, Sheoraj noted, is being conducted in collaboration with Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics, the International Labour Organization, and other global partners to ensure accurate and actionable insights.
