Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Employment - ENYC

Eswatini’s unemployment rate is among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa, standing at 33.3% for the overall workforce, and estimated at 58.2 % among youth aged 15-25 years, with a disproportionate impact on adolescents and youth residing in rural areas (65.9 Percent) as of 2023. Thirty-five percent of youth in Eswatini are not in education, employment, or training. Poverty levels are also startlingly high, with 63% of the country living below the poverty line.

Unemployment rates are higher in rural areas and in Lubombo and Shiselweni which are the poorest, vulnerable and food insecure regions. The National Youth Policy calls for investing in an educational curriculum that is responsive to the needs of the labour market, expanding public works and infrastructure to provide youth with work, investing in technical and vocational education (TVET), and improved regulations of the wage system. Additionally, the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Development Policy aims to encourage youth entrepreneurship by providing training, stimulating lending, and providing support to individuals wishing to establish businesses. In addition, in 2008, the Youth Enterprise Revolving Fund was established to provide young people with subsidized loans to enable them to start their own businesses. With these interventions in place, youth in Eswatini have continued to face employment challenges for several years.

The proportion of young people available and seeking work but unable to find it has remained essentially stagnant for a decade, which is likely a strong contributor to the phenomenon of discouragement among young workers. Employers in the country have indicated that there are major challenges with employing young people, primarily relating to a lack of computer literacy and appropriate technical skills, further emphasizing a lack of alignment between the available education and training and the available jobs. In addition, a study conducted by UNDP and UNFPA in 2013 found that those youth who do manage to find employment are significantly more likely (75%) than older workers (48%) to hold insecure jobs, without a contract or protection against the increased risks associated with age. The current situation on poverty and unemployment among young people is linked by MoSCYA and UNFPA (2016) to the lack of opportunities for young people to initiate income-generating projects that can improve their quality of life.

Specifically, MoSCYA and UNFPA (2016) state that Eswatini lacks a conducive policy environment for young entrepreneurs, while also being among those countries with high costs and long times associated with starting a business. Nonetheless, government has an opportunity to reap benefits from the demographic dividend if it invests in this population.