Africa’s youth unemployment crisis is increasingly pushing agriculture to the centre of the continent’s economic survival strategy, with the African Development Bank (AfDB) warning that millions of jobs must be created urgently to prevent a deepening employment gap. Speaking during the AfDB Annual Meetings in Brazzaville, on May 28, Martin Fregene, AfDB's Acting Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development Complex, said Africa’s labour market is failing to absorb the growing number of young people entering the workforce every year. ALSO READ: East Africa projected to lead regional growth in 2026 “Every year, 11 million young Africans enter the labour market, but only three million get formal jobs, if we are going to reverse that trend, we need to create at least 1.6 million jobs every month,” he said. According to Fregene, the bank now sees agriculture not only as the continent’s biggest untapped employment engines but as a food production sector. “Agriculture is the largest employer of labour, but at the same time agriculture is a great attractor for young people,” he said. The AfDB says job creation has become central to its long-term development strategy, with a growing focus on linking young people to agricultural value chains, financing and skills development. Since launching its 2016 Feed Africa strategy, which aimed to reposition Africa from a net food importer into a globally competitive agricultural producer, the bank says it has approved about $13 billion for agriculture projects across the continent, supporting irrigation, fertiliser access, storage infrastructure and livestock systems. ALSO READ: African leaders push for economic sovereignty at AfDB meetings Fregene said part of the strategy specifically targets youth employment through training, financing and policy reforms aimed at reducing barriers facing young entrepreneurs. “We provide training for young people, either at vocational or higher education level, but we also provide access to finance so that once they get training, they can run their businesses,” he said. According to the AfDB, at least 24,000 youth-owned businesses have already been created across agricultural value chains, including input supply, production, processing, marketing and digital extension services. However, AfDB officials acknowledged that attracting young Africans into farming will require making agriculture commercially viable and profitable. “If you want young people to go into agriculture, show them the money. They can talk about technology, but if young people do not see the income opportunities, they are not going to stay,” Fregene said. The Bank pointed to Tanzania as an example of how structured agricultural financing and market access can improve youth participation. Under the project, young farmers were allocated land, connected to professional farm managers and linked directly to processors who guaranteed purchases of their produce. According to Fregene, incomes for participating young farmers doubled within a short period because market access and financing risks had been reduced. AfDB officials argued that such models could help African countries reduce food imports while creating jobs and strengthening local value chains. They say improving access to finance remains one of the biggest missing links in Africa’s agricultural transformation, highlighting the need for stronger collaboration with the private sector to ensure young people acquire skills that match labour market demand. According to Solomon Quaynor, the AfDB Vice President for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialisation, the bank is increasingly shifting towards private sector-led financing models and public-private partnerships (PPPs) to accelerate investment, infrastructure development and job creation across the continent. Quaynor said the bank recorded historic private sector lending volumes in 2025, with $2.8 billion committed directly from its balance sheet and $3.6 billion mobilised overall, reflecting renewed efforts to scale up non-sovereign operations after COVID-19 pendemic disruptions shifted focus towards government financing. “We believe that the platform for growth of the private sector is poised for significant growth, but limited fiscal space across many African countries means governments alone can no longer finance large-scale development and employment programmes, increasing the importance of partnerships with private investors and development institutions,” he said. According to Quaynor, the bank is now focusing on creating “one-stop shop” systems and more standardised financing processes to improve coordination between governments, financiers and private operators. The bank also sees regional integration and infrastructure corridors as critical to reducing fragility, expanding markets and creating jobs. Abdul Kamara, the AfDB Director General for East Africa and Officer-in-Charge for the Transition States Coordination Office, warned that fragility, insecurity and climate shocks are increasingly crossing borders and threatening investment, trade and economic stability across the continent. The officials stressed that strengthening infrastructure, financing systems and regional value chains will be essential if agriculture is to absorb Africa’s rapidly growing youth population and reduce unemployment pressures across the continent.
