Preparing Youth for the Lucrative Informal Economy
Original version published in the May 2022 Now and Next section of the X Report by EdTechX
Illicit. Underground. Noncompliant. These are some of the stigmas surrounding the words “informal economy,” but in a world where 61% of workers earn their living through informal employment, these words, along with many misconceptions, don’t paint an accurate picture.
Educate! not only celebrates the important contributions of informal workers but believes that investing in youth who will likely enter this market is a key step in empowering them to become leaders with the skills to drive positive change.
Educate! Mentor, Mercy, at her shop in Uganda.
The organization Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) defines the informal economy as the “diversified set of economic activities, enterprises, jobs, and workers that are not regulated or protected by the state.” Think, for example, street vendors, motorcycle couriers, and domestic workers. For those who are unable to access formal job opportunities, or in countries where very few exist, the informal economy plays a pivotal role in supporting livelihoods.
In fact, 95% of African youth ages 15-24 work in an informal setting, compared to less than 50% of youth in the Americas, Europe, and Central Asia. With high rates of unemployment, even among university graduates, it’s no wonder that many young people find themselves entering the informal workforce as means of securing an income. Furthermore, these jobs have economic implications beyond the individual level. In some African countries, the informal economy contributes between 25 and 65 percent of their GDP. These statistics alone shed new light on the disparities that exist within today’s global job market.
By recognizing the distinct realities facing young people entering the workforce, we are able to focus our attention on the following question: How can we best prepare youth for a meaningful future, regardless of their geographic location? As the largest youth skills provider in East Africa, Educate! seeks to design and deliver solutions that provide successful pathways for young people to transition from education to employment—no matter the context they find themselves in.
When considering the job market, there is an important distinction between Educate!’s models and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programs. According to The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), TVET includes “education, training and skills development relating to a wide range of occupational fields, production, services and livelihoods.” The emphasis is on job-specific skill development. While Educate!’s solutions aim to provide youth with the hard business skills to pursue employment, they don’t stop there.
Educate! puts youth first. Our solutions internalize young people's diverse social contexts, center them within the design, and are further strengthened through an intentional focus on building support networks.
In addition to job-specific skills, Educate! provides a strong foundation of soft and transferable skills that ultimately allow youth to sustain momentum and adapt to ever-changing circumstances.
Educate! places gender-responsive practices and equitable access at the forefront of conversations about today’s workforce, ensuring that young men and women have opportunities to learn and lead side by side.
Ultimately, our evidence-based solutions aim to support youth in building the competencies and mindsets to better their life outcomes and pursue their goals in any setting: formal or informal.
Motorcycle, or boda boda, couriers in Nairobi, Kenya.
Take Doreen, for example, a young mother in Uganda who dropped out of secondary school. After participating in Educate!’s bootcamp designed for out-of-school youth, she is now running a business supplying pig feed to her local community. Doreen is saving her profits to build a structure for her business.
Or Dan, who enrolled in Educate!’s bootcamp for motorcycle couriers in Nairobi. Through skills-based courses, Dan had the opportunity to receive a driver’s license, learned to use a smartphone to access marketplace apps, and further developed his customer service skills. Over time, Dan has nearly tripled his daily income and is now able to better support his family.
And Jonathan, an Educate! Scholar turned Mentor in Uganda who applied the entrepreneurial skills garnered through Educate!’s in-school model to set up a juice vending business to pay for school. Jonathan has since started multiple small businesses and is sharing his knowledge with his wider community as an education advocate. Stating:
“I learned to embrace change and apply means of problem-solving in every situation.”
As the world continues to evolve, further complicated by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, now more than ever young people in Africa are building their livelihoods through informal jobs. Educate! is leveraging this reality by equipping them with the skills to thrive.