Overview of Africa
2. Unemployment: Before vs. After COVID
During the pandemic, the governments imposed non- pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) that all target keeping social distance in attempt to decrease the virus spread.
NPIs included lockdown of restaurants, closing of schools, banning of gatherings, travel bans, curfews and remote working (Kong & Prinz, 2020; Perra, 2021).
These measures had led to closure of some workplaces for more than six months which cost the loss of jobs for number of labors. Moreover, demand of households changed toward more online purchase, conference software, computer hardware and medical essential goods such as gloves and masks (Kampf et al., 2020; Sarkis et al., 2020). Change in households demand implies shift of expenditures from sector to another respectively would change employment structure.
67 COVID-19 Impact on Decent Work: Overview of Africa
Table 1. Unemployment for selected regions (% of total labor force– ILO estimate)
Country name YR2019 YR2020
Africa (53 countries) 6.42 7.89
Asia1 5.89 6.92
Australia 5.16 6.46
European Union 6.7 7.0
Latin America and the Caribbean 7.9 10.1
North America 3.89 8.21
World 5.36 6.57
Source: World Bank Data Bank
Based on World Bank data (see Table 1), It can be documented that the COVID- 19 pandemic has resulted in nearly 1.5 % increase of unemployment in the African continent.2 Unemployment rate (% of labor force— based on ILO estimates) increased from an average 6.42 % for 53 African countries3 to 7.89 %.
This implies that about 916.23 thousands lost job in only one year as a result of COVID- 19 economy slow down. Africa is no different than the rest of the world, where unemployment rates increased dramatically in North America in specific and the whole world in general as indicated in Table 1.
Figure 1. Unemployment (% of total labor force– ILO estimate): Highest ten record in Africa Source: Constructed by author based on World Bank Data Bank
1 Calculated by author for 46 countries based on World Bank data bank.
2 Calculated by author based on Data provided by World Bank Data Bank.
3 No data was available for Seychelles.
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Nevertheless, in 2020 highest level of unemployment all over the world were recorded in African countries; South Africa (29.2 %) and Djibouti (28.4 %), while eight other African countries recorded unemployment rates higher than or equal 20 % (see Figure 1). Nevertheless, during 2020 increase in unemployment in these ten countries ranged between 0.41 (Libya) and 2.67 (Eswatini), in comparison to a range of change ‒0.007 to 1.6 in 20194 (see Figure 2). In general, these ten countries have suffered of high rate of unemployment in the last decade and their unemployment rates have always been higher than world average unemployment rate. These countries suffer of unemployment either due to few availability of natural resources, less dependence on manufactured sector, expansion of informal sector and inadequate education sector.
Figure 2. Changes in unemployment 2019 vs. 2020: Highest ten record in Africa Source: Constructed by author based on World Bank Data Bank
Substantial increase in unemployment rates are reported in Cabo Verde, Eswatini, Botswana, Republic of Congo, Morocco and Lesotho. In these countries, the increase in unemployment rates ranged between 2.12 and 3.09 (see Table 2). The most common feature of these economies is the dependence on service sector to create job opportunities. Employment in service sector for male ranged from 42.39 % of male employment to 67.6 % (see Table 2). While, Botswana and Lesotho in particular are two out of the 11 richest countries in producing Diamond (The Global Economy.com, 2022b). Demand on diamond has decreased massively specially with the closure of most Diamond selling shops 4 Calculated by author based on world bank data.
69 COVID-19 Impact on Decent Work: Overview of Africa
all over the world and difficulty of exporting. Respectively, diamond mining companies had to consider temporary closure and reduce some of its workers.
In Botswana, Diamond production fell by 29 % during the first 9 months of the pandemic (Analytica, 2021) and there was a 54.5 % decrease in Lesotho during the year 2020 (Statista.com, 2022a).
Table 2. Unemployment (% of total labor force) and employment for selected countries
Country 2019 2020 Change in
unemployment rate
Employment in services, male (% of male employment) 2019
Cabo Verde 12.22 15.31 3.09 67.6
Eswatini 22.84 25.51 2.67 64.6
Botswana 22.61 24.93 2.32 62.49
Congo, Rep. 20.62 22.84 2.22 44.99
Morocco 9.28 11.45 2.17 43.66
Lesotho 22.44 24.56 2.12 42.39
Source: Constructed by author based on World Bank Databank (2022)
Nevertheless, governments in Africa have been depending on tourism in accelerating growth and creating employment (Christie & Cromption, 2001). Africa known to be the second growing tourism sector in the world;
with its large- scale beaches and wild- life as well as rich culture and historical monuments. Cabo verde; for example which is an island in the Atlantic known for its beautiful beaches, depends mainly on tourism as main instrument for job creation and gaining foreign currency, where in 2019 more than 56 % of exports revenue gained from tourism (Word Bank Databank, 2022) and the country witnessed 39 % decline in tourism expenditures in 2020 in comparison to previous year. Tourism sector is a labor- intensive sector that can create job for both skilled and unskilled labor. Also, it’s a key sector that has impact on the income and employment of other services and manufacturing sector; such as food, transportation, cloth and crafts.
Other African countries with high dependence on tourism are: Sao Tome and Principe with 73.19 % of exports revenues in 2018, Eritrea with 36.84 % of exports revenues in 2018, Ethiopia with 29.58 % of exports revenues in 2018 and Comoros with 26.9 % of exports revenues in 2018 (Word Bank Databank, 2022). Moreover, based on the Global Economy (.com, 2022a) Seychelles, Cape
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Verde and Mauritius are three African countries ranked as 5th, 7th and 19th (respectively) out of 135 countries worldwide in terms of international tourism revenue as percentage of GDP.
In 2020, flights stopped, gatherings were prohibited and people were advised to stay at home. These strict social distancing measures led to closure of restaurants, hotels, resorts, travel agencies and open door entertainment activities (Nhamo et al., 2020). In 2020, massive decrease in number of international tourists arrivals to Africa were witnessed, for example number of arrivals in December 2020 is 1,603 thousands in comparison to 6,310 thousands in 2019 (Statista.com, 2022). African Union estimated that nearly $55 million lost their jobs in the first three months of the pandemic (Monnier, 2021).
Even in 2021 after the vaccine campaigns, international tourists’ arrivals to Africa decreased by 74 % in comparison to 2019 in comparison to 63 % decline in Europe and 62 % in the Americas (UNWTO, 2022). Decrease of revenue and job opportunities affect other sectors such as private transportation services, food and beverages and even cloth sector. Employment recap in the tourism sector depends on the country ability of creating a competitive edge; ensuring for international tourists the safety measures applied, technology facilities provided and social distance granted. In order for the continent to create more job opportunities and depend on tourism as a pillar for decent job opportunities;
the countries should gain world confidence through expanding vaccination and ensuring hygiene precautions.