Talking Points for ECA Executive Secretary and USG, Mr. Claver Gatete
HLPF Side Event: From Informal Work to Sustainable Livelihoods: Youth Pathways in Fragile Cities in Africa
Date: 6 July 2026 | Time: 10.00 – 11:15 | Venue: Conference Room C, UNHQ
Excellencies,
Distinguished colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is my great pleasure to welcome you to this important side event on “From Informal Work to Sustainable Livelihoods: Youth Pathways in Fragile Cities in Africa.” I would like to thank all our partners, including the African Union, the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security and the United Nations Resident Coordinator System, for bringing us together to discuss one of the defining development challenges of our time.
1. Africa's Youth at a Historic Crossroads
Africa stands at a historic crossroads. It is home to the world’s youngest population, with nearly 70 per cent of its people under the age of 30, and it is urbanizing faster than any other region in the world. Every year, millions of young Africans migrate to towns and cities seeking education, employment and better opportunities. This demographic and urban transition represents one of Africa’s greatest opportunities. Yet it also presents one of its greatest policy challenges. Whether this unprecedented transformation becomes a demographic dividend or a source of deepening inequality and fragility will depend largely on whether our cities can generate productive and sustainable livelihoods for young people.
This challenge is acute in fragile contexts. Across countries such as the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan, cities are experiencing the combined impacts of conflict, displacement, climate shocks, food insecurity and economic instability. These overlapping crises place enormous pressure on infrastructure, public services, housing and labor markets. Young people often find themselves at the front line of these disruptions, facing limited opportunities precisely when they should be building their futures.
For many young people, the challenge is not simply unemployment. Most are working, but in low-productivity, insecure and informal activities that provide little income security, few opportunities for advancement and no pathway out of poverty to sustainable livelihoods. As conflict and displacement push increasing numbers of young people into cities, the pressure on already fragile urban labor markets continues to grow.
Many of these young people themselves have been displaced by conflict and violence. They arrive in cities seeking safety, stability and the opportunity to rebuild their lives. For displaced youth, access to productive livelihoods is about far more than earning an income—it is a pathway to dignity, self-reliance, and social inclusion. Enabling both displaced and host-community youth to contribute to local economies is therefore essential not only for economic recovery but also for strengthening social cohesion and building more resilient cities.
At the same time, fragile cities should not be seen only as places of crisis. Many are emerging as strategic hubs along regional transport and trade corridors that connect countries, markets and people. Corridors such as Addis Ababa–Dire Dawa–Djibouti show how investments in connectivity can create new opportunities for trade and jobs. If these opportunities are harnessed effectively, they can provide pathways to productive livelihoods for both displaced and host-community youth while strengthening regional integration, resilience and shared prosperity.
Africa’s youth should never be viewed solely through the lens of vulnerability or risk. They are entrepreneurs, innovators, creators and problem-solvers. They are already driving digital innovation, building businesses, supporting their communities and contributing to local economies under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. Their resilience is remarkable. The challenge is therefore to ensure that this potential can flourish within economies capable of creating productive opportunities at the scale required.
2. From Informality to Productive Livelihoods
Similarly, informality should not be viewed merely as a problem to be eliminated. Across Africa, informal enterprises provide essential goods and services, sustain households, generate income and keep cities functioning. They represent an important source of entrepreneurship and economic dynamism. However, too many informal businesses remain constrained by limited access to finance, inadequate infrastructure, weak market linkages, insufficient business development services, low levels of technology adoption, skills gaps and limited social protection. These structural constraints prevent enterprises from growing, innovating and creating decent work.
This tells us something important. Informality is often not the root cause of Africa’s employment challenge. Rather, it is a symptom of economies that have not yet generated sufficient productive opportunities. Addressing this challenge therefore requires much more than labor market interventions. It requires policies that foster structural transformation, raise productivity and strengthen the foundations of inclusive economic growth.
At the Economic Commission for Africa, we increasingly see youth employment through the lens of a broader productive opportunity ecosystem rather than isolated employment programs. Sustainable livelihoods do not emerge from isolated employment programs alone. They depend on mutually reinforcing investments in productive enterprises, quality education and skills, affordable finance, digital technologies, reliable infrastructure, functioning markets, effective institutions and social protection. Together, these create the conditions in which young people and businesses can innovate, grow, integrate into value chains and generate productive jobs on a scale.
3. Building Resilient Cities through Productive Opportunities
This integrated perspective also reflects the principles of human security. Besides protecting people from immediate threats, human security is about expanding people’s capabilities, choices and opportunities. Productive livelihoods are therefore central to human security. They provide income, agency and hope. They reduce vulnerability to poverty, exclusion and displacement.
Conversely, when young people cannot build secure livelihoods, the consequences extend far beyond the labor market. Economic insecurity can undermine trust in institutions as well as increase incentives for irregular migration and even conflict. In fragile settings, this heightens threats to peace and social cohesion. Investing in productive opportunities is therefore not only an economic imperative; it is also an investment in stability, resilience and sustainable peace.
This is why integrated policy responses are so important. Employment policies cannot operate in isolation from urban planning. Enterprise development cannot be separated from infrastructure, digital connectivity or access to finance. Skills development must anticipate the changing nature of work, including opportunities created by digitalization, green industries and regional integration under the African Continental Free Trade Area. Social protection systems must help people manage risks while supporting entrepreneurship and labor market transitions. These policies are mutually reinforcing and must be designed accordingly.
4. Partnerships for Impact
The Economic Commission for Africa remains committed to supporting Member States in developing evidence-based policies that connect economic transformation with human development and resilience. Working closely with the United Nations Resident Coordinator System, national governments, regional institutions and development partners, we seek to strengthen policy coherence and identify scalable solutions that respond to the realities facing young people across the continent.
This message was reinforced only a few weeks ago at the inaugural Africa Development Impact Forum in Addis Ababa, where partners from across the continent demonstrated that Africa does not lack innovative solutions for creating jobs and expanding productive opportunities. Our challenge now is to scale what works, strengthen partnerships and translate innovation into sustainable livelihoods for millions of young people.
Today’s event provides an important opportunity to learn from experience and to identify what works. We have brought together policymakers, youth leaders, practitioners, researchers and development partners because sustainable solutions require collaboration across sectors and institutions. We are particularly pleased to welcome the participation of the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security, whose work demonstrates how integrated approaches can simultaneously address the economic, social and institutional dimensions of vulnerability while strengthening resilience at the local level.
As we engage in today’s discussions, I encourage us to focus not only on diagnosing challenges but also on identifying practical, scalable solutions. Africa’s young people are not merely beneficiaries of development; they are its greatest resource. Their energy, creativity and entrepreneurship will shape the continent’s future. Our collective responsibility is to create the enabling conditions that allow this potential to flourish.
I thank you for your participation and wish you a productive, engaging and inspiring discussion.