Kenya ranks high among African countries with the lowest levels of formal youth jobs, trailing peers such as Rwanda, a new continental labour market report shows.
The Africa Youth Employment Outlook 2026 – First Regional Labour Market Report, published by World Data Lab, Mastercard Foundation and the University of Cape Town casts a fresh spotlight on the depth of youth working, poverty and unemployment.It shows that just 8.6 per cent of employed Kenyan youth are in formal jobs, placing the country well behind Rwanda, which tops East Africa with formal youth jobs at 16.8 per cent.
Tanzania is third regionally at 5.4 per cent, followed by Uganda at 4.6 per cent, underscoring a regional labour market where young people are working in large numbers but largely outside secure, regulated employment.
The report argues that Africa’s youth employment challenge is not simply about joblessness, but about job quality, with millions of young people trapped in low-productivity, informal and poorly paid work.
According to World Data Lab’s Africa Head, Ivy Kimani, many young Africans are working early, informally and in low-productivity sectors.
"Too many are employed and still poor and too many young women are locked out of opportunity altogether not because of lack of ambition, but because of structural barriers that data too often fails to illuminate,” she said dueing the report launch in Nairobi.
Kenya illustrates the paradox at the heart of the report. While 53 per cent of Kenyan youth are employed, more than a third of them (35 per cent) live in extreme poverty, one of the highest proportions among countries analysed.
Ghana, with a similar youth employment rate of 49 per cent, records a lower but still significant working poverty rate of 24 per cent.
Women bear a disproportionate share of this burden. Although young women account for 44 per cent of employed youth, they represent 48 per cent of working youth living in extreme poverty.
They also make up just 38 per cent of young people in formal employment, highlighting persistent gender gaps in access to quality jobs.
Across Africa, the report estimates that nearly 90 per cent of young employed people work in the informal economy, most of them in agriculture. While agriculture remains a critical source of livelihoods, it is also associated with the lowest levels of formality and pay, reinforcing cycles of poverty.
In Kenya, agriculture continues to absorb a large share of young workers, yet low productivity and limited market access mean incomes remain depressed, even as the cost of living rises.
The Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) estimates that while overall unemployment stands at 12.7 per cent, youth aged 15 to 34, who make up 35 per cent of the population, face an unemployment rate as high as 67 per cent, reflecting both job scarcity and prolonged transitions into stable work.
Kenya’s 225 Economic Survey shows that the economy created 782,300 new jobs in 2024, a 7.8 per cent decline from 2023.
The informal sector, dominated by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), accounted for 703,700 jobs, while the modern, formal sector added just 78,600.
Although the economy grew by 4.7 per cent, supported by agriculture and services, the quality of jobs created remains a central concern, particularly for young entrants.
The report argues that given the dominance of informality, policy should not focus solely on expanding the small formal sector, but also on raising productivity, incomes and protections within informal work.
“Targeted support for the self-employed including access to credit, training and markets could help transform survivalist enterprises into viable businesses,” it says.
Speakind during the report launch in Nairobi, Labour and Skills Development Principal Secretary Shadrack Mwadime said the government is working with the private sector to better align training with labour market needs.
“One of the challenges as we interact with employers is the kind of graduates that we produce. They don’t match their expectations,” Mwadime said.
So as a solution, the government has come up with 12 sector skills committees which will identify existing gaps and help develop the right curriculums.
Education levels strongly influence where young people work, the report notes.
In Kenya and Uganda, the report finds that youth with tertiary education are more than twice as likely to be employed in the services sector compared with peers who have less than primary education—a critical distinction as Africa’s economies evolve.
Source: The Star
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