Reaching 1 Million African Youth with Development Opportunities by 2021

1. Reaching 1 Million African Youth with Development Opportunities by 2021 AUC Chairperson Special Initiative

2. Contents • Foreword • Background • Youth in Africa • Policy and Programmatic Environment at the AUC- The AUC’s Comparative Advantage • Lessons Learned and Key Systemic Bottlenecks • The 1 Million African Youth by 2021 Initiative 2.1. Overall Objectives and Scope 2.2. Guiding Principles and AUC’s Value Proposition for the Initiative • Intervention Areas • Education • Employment • Entrepreneurship Development • Engagement • Financing and Resource Mobilization • Implementation Modalities • What Will Success Look Like? 6.1 Core Indicators 6.2. Reporting, Review and Accountability Mechanisms Annex i. Operational Milestones ii. Risk and Mitigation Measures iii. Funding Table

3. Foreword I. • Chair’s pix Africa has about 420 million young people aged 15 to 35. By 2050, the numbers are expected to double to almost 830 million. These youth face significant challenges in accessing the education, skills, employment, and engagement they need to concretely contribute to society. About 50% of secondary-age Africans are out of school. Access to quality education which builds relevant skills are limited. There is often a mismatch between education and labour market needs. An estimated 11 million youth enter the job market annually; however, only three million formal jobs are created in that time frame. The lack of waged jobs push the youth into the informal sector where jobs are typically less stable and have lower earning potential. As a result, thousands of young Africans resort to desperate means including forced migration in search of jobs, livelihood, and a better future. A glaring fact remains that the failure to invest in young people will expose Africa to economic underperformance and brain drain. This exposes our youth youth to criminality, and political and social unrest. Marginalization of youth in the society is detrimental to building sustainable peace and countering violent extremism. The extent to which we are able to commit to youth development through transforming education, employment and engagement, with cognizance to foundational elements such as health, will be the propelling force of our march towards the Africa We Want. It is for this reason that I am launching the 1 Million African Youth by 2021 Initiative. With the aim of galvanizing political action and commitment from development partners, the initiative targets 1 million young people through direct investments and essential game-changing interventions in four areas: education, entrepreneurship, employment and engagement (4 Es). This initiative responds to fundamental questions on new approaches to solving existing problems targeted towards African realities. How can we embolden stakeholders to consider new perspectives? How can we test new ideas and scale up promising ideas continent-wide? How can we build ecosystems of efficiencies across the continent? Through coordinated and focused implementation, it is our overarching goal that the direct and accumulated impact on the lives of young people will reverberate across our continent and lift us to new heights of progress. For us to achieve any measure of success, we must pool together our efforts and resources to enable a seismic shift. It is my hope that all stakeholders: governments, civil society and youth, and partners, both public and private sector, will join me on this bold new initiative as we demonstrate our sustained commitment to a developed, united and peaceful Africa. Africa is the most youthful continent with a significant untapped youth potential. We are on the cusp of turning our youthful population into a demographic dividend- the exponential economic gains we can achieve by investing heavily in our human capital, specifically our youth. This will break intergenerational poverty, and address inequalities which have dogged us for decades. It should ensure a stable Africa, free of conflict, home to citizens who are educated, gainfully employed, healthy and fully engaged in society. Armed with a vision for our future as outlined by Agenda 2063, the time has come for bold and accelerated action towards achieving our goals. The responsibility is on us to adequately invest in the development of the greatest asset of the continent- our youth, and provide opportunities for them to become productive members of their societies.

4. Background 1.1. Youth in Africa • The continent’s population reached 1.2 billion in 2015 and is projected to grow rapidly, reaching 1.7 billion in 2030 and 3 billion in 2063. Its share of the global population will increase to 29 per cent in 2063. About 46 per cent of Africa’s labour force will be young people aged 15-34 by 2063. This will be an average of 12.1 million a year. Africa’s youthful population structure therefore provides a significant potential to reap demographic dividend for economic transformation. Harnessing the youth cohort can create opportunities for change, progress and social dynamism. • Most young Africans are underemployed in low-productivity household enterprises. Ninety percent of Africa’s jobs are in the informal sector, associated with low-productivity, low quality and low-paid employment. High unemployment, socioeconomic and gender inequalities have contributed to high poverty levels among Africa’s youth and women. The lack of technical and employable skills, information on jobs and access to capital limit young people’s abilities to fully use their skills and contribute to the dynamism of the private sector. • It is imperative to build a highly skilled labour force. This will require increasing access to education at the primary, secondary, vocational, technical and tertiary levels. Increasing support for entrepreneurship and creating an enabling environment for growth in diverse industry while taking advantage of technology will generate new opportunities for the youths. Africa has made notable progress towards political, economic and social development and has become the world’s second-fastest growing region behind Asia. The development dynamic shows that despite the continent’s strong growth, quality jobs remain scarce and inequalities are high. Growth remains volatile despite accumulating capital and recent growth has not translated to higher wellbeing. Quality jobs, particularly for young remain scarce and structural transformation may be hard to achieve without improving productivity. Source: Authors with data from UNDESA

5. 1.2. Policy and Programmatic Environment at the AU on Youth - The AUC’s Comparative Advantage The African Union is mandated to act on youth issues. Agenda 2063 provides a strategic framework for the socio-economic transformation of the continent. Aspiration 6 of the Agenda calls for the unleashing of the potential of Africa’s youth potential. The African Youth Charter and related AU policies and Decisions provide a strong framework for youth development. The appointment of the AU Youth and council, demonstrates AU’s commitment to the development of African youths. Additionally, the AUC regularly mobilises for the implementation of programmes for young people across the continent including providing access to education and improving quality of delivery; preparing young people for employment; addressing challenges with entrepreneurship as well as ensuring young people are able to actively participate in society. Together, these provide a framework for accelerated action and for galvanising political commitment and country specific responses for more and better investments in young people. 01 06 The African Youth Charter African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance 05 02 The Ouagadougou Declaration & Plan of Action on Employment The AU Demographic Dividend Roadmap Youth in Africa Continental Strategy on Technical Vocational Education and Training The Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA) 04 03

6. 1.3 Lessons Learned and Key Systemic Bottlenecks Mismatch of workforce qualifications and labour market needs Insufficient number of teachers at the secondary and vocational level Lack of infrastructure for secondary and post-Secondary education Despite previous investments, significant system challenges still affect young people in these areas. Limited internships and entry level job opportunities Limited alternative quality, cost effective tertiary education opportunities Employment Education Limited information on job opportunities Limited enrolment into secondary education Limited youth participation in leadership and governance Limited access to investment capital to young entrepreneurs Engagement Entrepreneurship Lack of mentorship and incubation opportunities to young entrepreneurs Absence of effective youth forums addressing youth issues Some of the key lessons learned from previous implementation include the need to: Barriers to establishing SMEs; including regulations Drive policy implementation in addition to ratification Build systems for evidence and knowledge management Ensure engagement of youth is not tokenistic Build coalitions of efficiency internally and externally Limited youth voice at national, regional (RECs) and global levels Limited access to market information and business growth opportunities Africa’s Youth

7. The 1 Million African Youth Initiative 2. Vision Provide One million African Youth opportunities in Education, Entrepreneurship, Employment and Engagement by 2021 To achieve the strategic objectives, the initiative will identify, test and facilitate scalable promising ideas and solutions that have the potential of demonstrable positive impact for economic and continental development. To deliver on the initiative, the Commission will work with AU Member States and development partners to directly invest in education, employment, entrepreneurship, and engagement on youth-specific issues, including governance.. 2.1. Overall Objectives and Scope The 1 million African Youth by 2021 (1*2021) initiative aims to catalyze action for youth development in Africa. It is driven by the realization that guided investment in young people’s empowerment has an impact on the transformation of the continent. At its core, the initiative will adopt a pan-African outlook and facilitate strategic partnerships to open up new opportunities for young people on the continent. It will promote African solutions and innovations, co-created with and driven by young people, while building frameworks, institutions and structures for effective engagement of stakeholders, sustainable financing, implementation and accountability. Strategic Objectives: •Empowering African youth with access to education, jobs, and opportunities for their advancement towards the attainment of their full potential in life. •Demonstrating commitment to and feasibility of targeted, measurable youth initiatives in creating tangible impact on Africa’s development trajectory; •Strengthening responsive structures, and strategic partnerships across actors and themes for a robust delivery of development goals. Scope:

8. 2.2. Guiding Principles and Value Proposition of the Initiative Guiding principles The value proposition Can w e reach 1 million by 2021? 02 03 04 01 Strong Ecosystem Facilitate cross learning, sharing and exchange of knowledge and adoption of technology; Fosterpublic, private and civil society partnerships Convening Leverage AU mandate to promote affirmative action for youth development and participation Commission-wide Prioritise use of existing resources and existing infrastructure within the commission High Impact Target scalable high impact, high multiplier areas to deliver value The 1 Million Youths by 2021 is an African call to action that aim to ensure that no young persons aged 15-35 is left behind. This initiative presents a strategic opportunity to realize the aspirations and goals of Agenda 2063 and the relevant Sustainable Development Goals. To this end this initiative’s value proposition focuses on: A Defined Mandate: Africa is experiencing an increasing youth population with over 65 percent of the population below the age of 35 years. The African Union Commission will use this initiative as a catalyst towards transforming this youthful population into a demographic dividend. The AU’s Agenda 2063 serves as the continental mandate to mobilize and unite youth and other stakeholders for productive engagement and action. A Coordinated Agenda: Focusing on Education, Employment, Entrepreneurship and Engagement, this initiative provides a nexus between key actors to generate momentum, leveraging linkages to accelerate rapid youth advancement on the continent. An Amplified Youth Voice: When young people come together and create a bottom-up movement, change can be effected. Through this initiative, African youth will be at the center of shaping new answers to current challenges. It will translate young people’s expectations, demands and proposals to tangible results. A Sustained Partnership:The initiative will further cement partnerships and collaborations to synergize partner contributions with the AU priorities for the youth. A Framework for Accelerated and Lasting Action: With a solid partnership and a harmonized agenda, the youth development landscape will invariably see expedited growth and sustainability. This initiative will create an enabling environment for long-term results-oriented action on youth priorities.

9. Intervention Areas 3. 3.1. Education Africa has made several gains in improving investment in education with an average increase of 6% year on year public allocation of resources to education. However, challenges remain with access with about half of adolescents out of school with poor quality of delivery as well as lack of alternative training option for young people out of school. *Add photo

10. Education How do we change the game? • Scholarships:Provide scholarship opportunities to young people especially young women at all levels (secondary, post-secondary, TVET) • Alternative Pathways:Provide alternative pathways and remote learning resources and tools for skills development • Models for Teacher Development:Establish a teachers without borders program to address quality of deliver and availability. What does success look like? • Scholarships:10,000 scholarships targeting Mathematicians; 50,000 scholarships awarded to secondary school students; 20,000 scholarships awarded for university degrees; 20,000 TVET scholarships awarded; • Alternative Pathways: 10,000 young people access training through alternative delivery options • Teacher Development: 1000 young teachers deployed across the continent under a ‘Teachers Without Borders’ programme uaing existing AUYVC architecture Who is involved? • Scholarships: Private sector foundations to allocate budget to scholarships; Country, Universities AUC through existing scholarship schemes • Pathways: Private sector • Teacher Development: AUC, Development Partners, Member States Advocacy priorities • Increase effort towards improving quality of education including addressing the mismatch between labour market needs and education sector • Address policy and systems that keep young people out of school especially vulnerable young people • Advance Comprehensive Sexuality Education in schools to address foundational issues affecting the health of young people.

11. 3.2. Employment Despite increasing economic growth, an estimated 83% of the 11 million Africans entering the job market every year are not able to find formal wage paying jobs due to lack of experience and practical requirement for the labour market. The changing landscape of work presents opportunities across sectors and geographies for employment but there are limited opportunities for young people to access these. *Add photo

12. Employment How do we change the game? • Internships and Apprenticeships: Provide new professional internships and new apprenticeship programs to ensure young people are able to contextualize learning to the world of work • Job Centres: Establish physical and virtual job preparedness and matching services to connect young people to available opportunities • Digital Skills: Develop a digital skills program to prepare young people for new skills that enable them to be globally competitive and access roles outside their traditional geographical areas What does success look like? • Internships and apprenticeships: Technical apprenticeships and Private sector internships granted to 100,000 youth; • Job Centres: 50,000 young people are registered on an online job centre platform with services including job matching, capacity building and information sharing • Digital Skills: 300,000 young people have accessed a digital skills platform to support school-to-work transition; Who is involved? • Internships and apprenticeships: Private sector to establish new apprenticeship and professional internship programs; AUC to strengthen internship and AUYVC programmes • Job Centres: AUC to work with development partners to develop a continental Digital Skills: Private sector to expand existing digital skill programs for youth • online job centre platform Advocacy priorities • Address vulnerabilities and working poverty among young people

13. 3.3. Entrepreneurship Development Young entrepreneurs face significant challenges with building and scaling up businesses. Due to the structural concerns around risk, young people are often unable to access already limited finance available in Africa. Additionally, due to often limited experience, young people do not have the rights skill to scale up existing enterprises nor the right information and networks to access markets. *Add photo

14. Entrepreneurship Development How do we change the game? • Growth capital: Mobilize and catalyze capital to allow youth companies to grow, achieve economies of scale, and move into underserved markets • Nurture start-ups: Provide scale up opportunities including physical and virtual mentorship initiatives for young entrepreneurs; entrepreneurial and business development education delivered within a network of in-person and virtual spaces and Incubation services delivered through established companies What does success look like? • Growth Capital: 5000 young people have benefitted from entrepreneurial grants and 100 young entrepreneurs benefit from growth capital; • Nurture start-ups: 50,000 businesses by young entrepreneurs formalized; • 100,000 young entrepreneurs have accessed an online information hub providing guidance on regulatory and financing processes; Who is involved? • Growth capital: Impact fund raised from high net worth investors, institutional investors and foundations. • Development partners: Support with Technical Assistance mechanisms and associated Technical Assistance fund • Banks and Fund Managers:Compact to provide operational support to the fund Advocacy Priorities • Regulatory and corporate governance reforms: • Advocacy for additional financial market instruments:

15. 3.4. Engagement It is essential that young people are valued, empowered, and afforded an opportunity to contribute in meaningful ways to create and lead innovative actions, programmes and initiatives on the continent. In essence therefore, the ideas, perspectives, skills, and strengths of young people need to be integrated into the design and delivery of programs, strategies and policies. Doing this will require intentional and committed investments in expanding opportunities for young people by broadening the space for youthful voices and expressions in leadership and governance spaces in order to influence and positively impact on socio-economic development of Africa and the ever evolving world.

16. Engagement How do we change the game? • Leadership programs:Identify virtual and physical leaders to coach, nurture and continuously support emerging leaders across thematic areas on the continent including with regional and global organisations • Exchange Programmes:Facilitate the promotion of physical and virtual exchange of young people on the continent and with the rest of the world leveraging extra-curricular opportunities including sports and the creatives sector • Forums: Establish a framework for youth consultations including an annual consultative forum and regional consultations • Youth Engagement:Develop a youth engagement mechanism to engage with at least 1 million unique young Africans every month by 2021 What does success look like? • Leadership programs: 300 young people have participated in an indepth leadership program and 10000 young people have participated in a virtual program • Exchange Programmes: 10,000 young people have participated and benefited from exchange programmes in various sectors including the creatives and sports sectors • Youth Forum: 50,000 youth reached throughRegional and Continental youth voices raised through effective youth forums addressing youth issues • Youth Engagement:Populated database of youth networks with 1,000,000 African youth recorded; Who is involved? • AU, RECs: Develop mechanisms and frameworks for youth engagement • Development Partners:Support to funding and the development of leadership programs • Universities/Institutes: to support with the development of the content and implementation of programmes • Civil societies and NGOs:Support to implementation of youth engagement initiatives Advocacy Priorities • Policy changes to address barriers to participation

17. Financing & Resource Mobilization 4. AUC Financing • Develop a robust financing framework and a resource mobilization strategy that takes into account the investment cases of the initiative • Engage the AUC Partnership Division to mobilize resources for the initiative’s sustainability • Tap into AUC departments/agencies’ resources to support the initiative through direct financial contribution or implementation of a sectoral objective • Resource pulling through the AU youth fund (1% of AUC budget, contributions from partners) • Establish/revive partnership agreements with private sectors and public sector institutions who have earmarked opportunities (follow up on the existing MoU and their implementation through joint plans and M&E) Private Sector / Development Partners • Leveraging on existing initiatives and expand or scale up their scope at a continental level (Tony Elumelu Initiative) • Encourage partners to provide technical assistance to the successful implementation of the initiative • Provide financial and in-kind support to specific objectives of the initiative • Earmark available funds and opportunities from the private sector to support the initiative (development partners, Government institutions, academia, …) Member States Exceptional Contribution • At Member State level to mobilize additional resources

18. Implementation Modalities 5. The African Union The African Union Commission shall be responsible for a coordinated AU Wide response to facilitate scale-up of models for youth development and mainstreaming Core functions • Mobilize political commitment and leveraging AUC convening power • Develop structural mechanisms for implementation • Act as the entry point for engagement, accelerators and enablers • Identification of champions and role models • Putting in place resource mobilization strategy • Responsibility for data and evidence for impact • Provide fiduciary risk guarantees Partners • Partners including private sector players and will be the implementation agents of the initiative and the African Union Commission will enter into compacts with them on implementation modalities. Core functions • Technical and financial support to the implementation of the initiative • Formulating and designing the right models for adoption, acceleration and scale-up • Implementation and entry points of the initiative including outreach to the youth in Member States • Act as champions and mentors for the youth Youth • The goal of the initiative is to have Young people who are empowered with access to education, jobs, health and opportunities for their advancement towards the attainment of their full potential in life. Core functions • Definition of priorities and Co-creation of the initiative through organized structures including the youth forum • Act as the investment force and beneficiaries of the initiative • Be accountable with a sense of readiness for their empowerment and ownership of the initiative

19. Functions of the African Union Commission

20. What Would Success Look Like? 6. 6.1. Core Indicators Education • Increase the number of youth in secondary education by 2021; • Increase the number of youth in tertiary education, particularly TVET training by 2021. Objectives Key Indicators Objective 2 • 20,000 scholarships awarded for university degrees; • 20,000 TVET scholarships awarded • 10,000 STEM Scholarships awarded • 10,000 youth access training through alternative delivery options Objective 1 • 1000 teachers deployed across the continent under ‘Teachers Without Borders’; • 50,000 scholarships awarded to secondary school students; • 100,000 vulnerable young girls enrolled in secondary school Employment • Increase the number of youth in decent employment by 2021. Objective Key Indicators • Private sector apprenticeships granted to 100,000 youth; • 300,000 young people have accessed a digital skills platform to support school-to-work transition; • 50,000 young people are registered on an online job centre platform with services including job matching, job information capacity building and working experience sharing • 200 youth occupy Young Professionals Programme (YPP) positions and entry level jobs in the AUC and the UN.

21. 6.1. Core Indicators Entrepreneurship Objective • Increase the number of young entrepreneurs and formalization of their businesses by 2021; • Increase the number of successful and scalable businesses with a strong value chain owned by youth entrepreneurs by 2021. Key Indicators • 5000 young people have benefitted from entrepreneurial grants and 100 young entrepreneurs benefit from growth capital; • 50,000 businesses by young entrepreneurs formalized; • 100,000 young entrepreneurs have accessed an online information hub providing guidance on regulatory and financing processes; • $10 million raised from partners and private sector for investment in entrepreneurs. Engagement Objective • Increase the participation of youth in governance and leadership opportunities by 2021 Key Indicators • 10,000 young people have participated and benefited from exchange programmes in various sectors including the creatives and sports sectors • 300 young people have participated in an indepth leadership program and 10000 young people have participated in a virtual program; • Populated database of youth networks with 1,000,000 African youth recorded; • 50, 000 Regional and Continental youth voices raised through effective youth forums addressing youth issues.

22. 6.2. Reporting and Reviewing Mechanism The project will be monitored and evaluated through the following reporting and reviewing mechanism: • Quarterly Steering Committee meetings convened by the Commission to update stakeholders on progress on activities and commitments; • Biannual reports by the African Union Commission on implementation and partnerships; • Biannual evaluation of implementation by the Steering Committee; • Annual stakeholder review incorporating the Pan African Youth Forum; • Issues Log will be activated and regularly updated to track and resolve potential problems or requests for change/adaptation; • Independent evaluation at the end of project term to determine success. The evaluation will be published publicly for accountability, transparency and learning purposes.

23. Annex

24. i. Key Operational Milestones

25. ii. Risks and Mitigation Measures RISKS • Inadequate coordination: leading to lack of synergies among implementing partners – H • MM: Leadership by the Chair translated into a commission wide agenda. • Commitment compacts with the respective departments and directorates • Structurally Empowered Youth Division to coordinate multiple actors 2. Inadequate technical and financial resources to support the initiative - H • MM: Put in place a resource mobilization and management strategy • Develop public-private partnership models or compacts • Develop a technical assistance framework 3. AU reform process disrupts the implementation of the initiative Better understanding and engagement with the reform process to help delineate roles and responsibilities 4.Absence of Continuity of the initiative beyond 2021 due to institutional changes Design of sustainability plan

26. iii. Funding Table