BPEA Spring 2024 conference

LIVE

BPEA Spring 2024 conference

February

07
2014

12:30 pm EST - 1:30 pm EST

Past Event

Youth Employment in Africa

Friday, February 07, 2014

12:30 pm - 1:30 pm EST

Rayburn House Office Building


On Friday, February 7, the Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings (AGI) and the Congressional African Staff Association (CASA) hosted a briefing for congressional staffers on youth employment in Africa. Panelists included Louise Fox, visiting professor at the University of California at Berkeley who coauthored a recent World Bank report on Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Peter Shiras, executive vice president for business development at the International Youth Foundation. CASA Acting President Moon Yousif Sulfab from the office of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell provided introductory remarks and AGI Visiting Fellow John W. McArthur moderated the discussion.

This event is part of the Africa Policy Dialogue on the Hill, a regular congressional briefing series hosted by AGI and CASA on topical issues relevant to Africa’s growth and security.

Read the full transcript »


South Africa’s issues are very different than Cameroon’s issues, they’re very different than Nigeria’s issues and Kenya’s issues.  And as much as we’re here to talk about sub-Saharan Africa, we have to avoid the human tendency to generalize.” -John McArthur

Brookings' African Growth Initiative hosts Africa Policy Dialogue luncheon at Rayburn House Office building Friday, Feb. 7, 2014 in Washington. (Sharon Farmer/sfphotoworks)

We’ve obviously got to do a lot more on the job creation side.  So it begins with building a culture of entrepreneurship and secondary school and vocational training systems. And then test out and support different models for youth going into business startups and growing businesses in the informal sector.” -Peter Shiras

Brookings' African Growth Initiative hosts Africa Policy Dialogue luncheon at Rayburn House Office building Friday, Feb. 7, 2014 in Washington. (Sharon Farmer/sfphotoworks)

Africa is becoming better educated. The education deficit is being reduced, but the quality of that education, it’s now clear, has been quite low. So we have data from various sources that indicate that, after three years of primary school, in their local language, students can’t read even a single word in a paragraph.” -Louise Fox

Brookings' African Growth Initiative hosts Africa Policy Dialogue luncheon at Rayburn House Office building Friday, Feb. 7, 2014 in Washington. (Sharon Farmer/sfphotoworks)

Agenda