The African Development Bank (AfDB), in partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO), has launched the Youth, Jobs and Skills Marker System to systematically embed youth employment, skills development, and entrepreneurship into all of the Bank’s projects. This transformative approach aligns with AfDB’s latest Ten-Year Strategy, which prioritizes investment in Africa’s youth to harness the continent’s demographic potential for economic growth.
The Youth, Jobs and Skills Marker System aims to ensure that projects across key sectors—such as agriculture, transport, energy, water, and education—incorporate components that promote youth employability, support entrepreneurship, and foster market-relevant skills. This system reflects a broader commitment to making young people active participants in economic transformation, rather than passive recipients of aid or programming.
The integrated system focuses on three main areas: Youth, by supporting youth-led micro, small, and medium enterprises through investment; Skills, by expanding access to hands-on, market-driven training and apprenticeships; and Jobs, by creating sustainable employment opportunities through enhanced skill development and value-chain integration. These efforts are crucial in light of the fact that while 10 to 12 million young Africans enter the labor market each year, only 3 million formal jobs are available.
The AfDB intends to scale up youth entrepreneurship support and build partnerships with the private sector to deliver industry-oriented training and promote job creation over the next decade. The Marker System also plays a role in advancing United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 8, which promotes inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment, and decent work for all.
Modeled after the Bank’s successful Gender Marker System, the new youth-focused platform will include an online dashboard that tracks real-time data to inform country strategy papers, project reviews, and impact reporting. This will allow AfDB staff and consultants to better integrate youth development outcomes into program design, supervision, and evaluation processes.
The ILO provided technical support for developing the system, backed by funding from the AfDB’s Youth Entrepreneurship and Innovation Multi Donor Trust Fund. The Youth, Jobs and Skills Marker System is the first of its kind among development finance institutions, representing a landmark step in institutionalizing youth empowerment across large-scale development financing.
