Front Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Africa Development Forum Series -- Titles in the African Development Forum Series -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- About the Authors -- Acronyms and Abbreviations -- Overview Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa -- Africa's Large Youth Population -- Growth, Jobs, and Africa's Labor Force-Now and in the Future -- Youth's Transition to Productive Employment -- Policy Priorities for Addressing Youth Employment -- Human Capital: The Fundamental Role of Basic Education -- Raising the Productivity of Smallholder Farmers -- Increasing the Productivity of Nonfarm Household Enterprises -- Improving Competitiveness to Boost Modern Sector Wage Jobs -- Building an Effective Youth Employment Policy -- Notes -- References -- 1 Opportunities and Challenges for Youth Employment in Africa -- Africa's Working-Age Population: Very Young and Growing Rapidly -- Can Africa's Youth Bring an Economic Advantage? -- What Is a Job, and Where Do Most Africans Find One? -- Growth, Jobs, and Africa's Labor Force-Now and in the Future -- Framework of This Report -- Notes -- References -- Focus Note 1 Jobs: More Than Just Income -- The Value of Jobs -- Jobs and Aspirations -- Jobs and Development -- References -- 2 Youth: A Time of Transitions -- Youth's Transition from School -- Youth's Transition to Work -- The Parallel Transitions: Choices Influencing Health, Family Formation, and Civic Engagement -- Challenges for Females Transitioning to Work -- Facilitating Transitions from School, to Work, and across Sectors of Employment -- Notes -- References -- 3 Skills for Productive Employment -- Schooling, Educational Attainment, and Work -- Building a Foundation: Cognitive, Socioemotional, and Behavioral Skills -- Building Skills through Post-School Training -- Government Interventions and the Post-school Training Market.

Conclusion: A Skills Agenda for Youth -- Notes -- References -- 4 Agriculture as a Sector of Opportunity for Young Africans -- Agriculture: Potential Opportunity, Room to Grow -- Recognizing the Opportunity in Agriculture for Young People -- Agricultural Career Paths for the Future -- Lifting Key Constraints on Capital, Land, and Skills -- Land Policies That Benefit the Young -- Enhancing Skills and Building a Better Educational Foundation -- Current Agricultural Programs Deliver Too Little, Too Slowly, to Meet the Needs of Africa's Young People -- Harnessing Agriculture's Youth Dividend -- Notes -- References -- Focus Note 2 Safety Nets and Pathways to Productive Employment -- Short-Term Benefits of Safety Net Programs -- Safety Nets Plus Explicit Productive Components -- Do Complementary Interventions Open Pathways toward Productive Employment for Youth? -- Safety Nets as Vehicles to Deliver Interventions Aimed at Improving Youth Employment Outcomes -- Notes -- References -- 5 Creating Productive Employment for Youth in the Household Enterprise Sector -- The Household Enterprise Sector Today -- The Business: Constraints and Opportunities -- Constraints for Young People to Enter the HE Sector -- Creating and Sustaining Productive Employment in Household Enterprises -- What Should Governments Do to Help Equip Youth with Skills for the HE Sector? -- Market Access and Voice -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- Focus Note 3 Financial Inclusion and the Transition to Sustainable Livelihoods for Young People -- Gaps in Access to Savings and Credit -- Formal Savings Services: Issues and Options -- Formal Credit Services: Challenges in Expanding Options for Smallholders, Household Enterprises, and Young People -- Notes -- References -- 6 Raising Productivity in Africa's Modern Wage Enterprises to Foster Job Growth for Youth.

Africa's Modern Enterprise Sector: An Overview -- Modern Manufacturing Delivers Little Employment, Few Exports -- How Competitive Is Modern Manufacturing in Africa? -- Sources of Productivity Gaps in African Manufacturing -- Making African Firms Competitive: Priorities for Improving the Business Climate and Workforce Skills -- Building Skills for the Modern Wage Sector -- Many Options to Promote Competitive Modern Enterprises -- Notes -- References -- Focus Note 4 Youth Unemployment in South Africa: Different Configuration, Different Approaches -- Conventional Perceptions of the Causes of Unemployment -- The Real Unemployment Problem: Slow Growth -- Inefficient Job Search and Matching Processes -- Policies to Reduce Unemployment -- References -- 7 Conclusion: Building an Effective Youth Employment Policy -- A Programmatic Approach -- "Do Now for Now": Address the Constraints Facing Households and Firms -- "Do Now for Later": Take Action for Medium-Term Payoffs -- Appendix: A Note on Data -- Standardized and Harmonized Household and Labor Force Data -- Demographic and Health Survey Data -- Boxes -- Figures -- Tables -- Back Cover.