By Victor Ahiuma-Young
The African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation, ITUC-Africa, has raised the alarm over a growing decent work deficit affecting millions of young workers across the continent.
The organisation, representing 18 million workers through 107 affiliated national centres in 52 countries, said young Africans are increasingly trapped in informal, unstable and poorly paid employment, with many lacking job security, social protection and safe working conditions.
“Africa is the youngest continent in the world, and that should be our greatest advantage,” ITUC-Africa said in a statement issued by General Secretary, Akhator Joel Odigie, to mark the World Day for Decent Work.
It lamented that “Yet for millions of young Africans, the promise of a demographic dividend has become a daily struggle for survival.”
The trade union body said the continent’s relatively low youth unemployment figures should not be interpreted as evidence that young Africans have adequate access to decent employment.
It cited the International Labour Organisation’s Global Employment Trends for Youth 2026, saying that “nearly nine in ten young workers in low- and lower-middle-income countries are in informal employment. This translates into a profound decent work deficit,” ITUC-Africa warned.
The organisation said behind the statistics were millions of young men and women working under precarious conditions, often without formal contracts, social protection or effective representation.
“Behind these figures are young women and men working without contracts, without social protection, without safe conditions and without a voice,” it said.
ITUC-Africa also expressed concern about the risks confronting young Africans who migrate in search of better economic opportunities, as well as the growing vulnerability of workers in the platform and gig economy.
“They are pushed into dangerous migration routes in search of dignity, exposed to exploitation in platform and gig work, and too often met with repression when they demand change.
“Young women carry a double burden of discrimination and gender-based violence at work,” it said.
Despite the challenges, ITUC-Africa said young workers were increasingly organising to demand better conditions and greater participation in decisions affecting their future.
“But young Africans are not giving up. They are organising in factories and markets, in offices and online, in their communities and in their unions. They want a say in the decisions that shape their lives, and they are right to demand it.
“When they fight for decent work, they also fight for democracy, for fairness and for the Africa they want to live in”, ITUC-Africa said.
The organisation called on African governments, the African Union, Regional Economic Communities and employers to make decent job creation a central component of economic policy.
It urged authorities to pursue industrial policies and structural transformation capable of creating quality employment for young people, including through opportunities associated with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“Put decent job creation at the heart of economic policy, through industrial policies and structural transformation that create quality jobs for young people, including within the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA.
“Guarantee living wages and extend universal social protection to all workers, including young, informal, migrant and platform workers,” it urged.
On labour migration, ITUC-Africa called for stronger protection for African workers moving across borders, while urging governments and other stakeholders to tackle discrimination against migrants.
“Ensure fair and safe labour migration, reject Afrophobia and xenophobia, and protect the rights of African migrant workers wherever they work,” the organisation said.
It also called for greater mobilisation of domestic resources to finance employment, education and healthcare, arguing that illicit financial flows and unsustainable debt were undermining public investment.
“Mobilise domestic resources for decent work by tackling illicit financial flows and the unsustainable debt burden that drains public investment in jobs, education and health.
“To our affiliates, we call for bold action to organise young workers, open leadership spaces to them, and ensure that unions remain the home of Africa’s next generation of workers,” it said.
ITUC-Africa insisted that decent employment should be treated as a fundamental right and not merely an economic aspiration.
“Decent work is a right. Africa’s youth deserve a future built on dignity, justice and hope, and they are already organising to build it”, the organisation declared.
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