IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/afrdev/v32y2020is1ps20-s31.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ending youth unemployment in sub‐saharan Africa: Does ICT development have any role?

Author

Listed:
  • Amaka G. Metu
  • Emmanuel Ajudua
  • Ifeoma Eboh
  • Chimezie Ukeje
  • Chekwube Madichie

Abstract

This study investigates the role of information and communication technology (ICT) development towards ending youth unemployment in the 48 sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) countries from 1991 to 2018. Using a dynamic panel modelling technique, the study employed the instrumental variable (IV) regression, within the framework of the system generalized method of moment (GMM‐SYS) estimator. The results show that the low level of mobile phone subscriptions, broadband internet subscriptions, Wi‐Fi internet subscriptions and internet bandwidth exert a significant negative effect on youth unemployment. This means that ICT development reduces youth unemployment in SSA. Also, it was found that the number of households with access to computers has a negative but insignificant effect on youth unemployment; this shows the ineffective role of household computers in reducing youth unemployment in SSA. Based on these findings, we recommend among other things that, for government to optimize the expanding youth population, there is the need for further telecommunication reforms to reduce the cost of mobile phone technologies and improved ultra‐modern internet facilities in the region.

Suggested Citation

  • Amaka G. Metu & Emmanuel Ajudua & Ifeoma Eboh & Chimezie Ukeje & Chekwube Madichie, 2020. "Ending youth unemployment in sub‐saharan Africa: Does ICT development have any role?," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(S1), pages 20-31, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:afrdev:v:32:y:2020:i:s1:p:s20-s31
    DOI: 10.1111/1467-8268.12479
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8268.12479
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1467-8268.12479?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Vivarelli, Marco, 2007. "Innovation and Employment: A Survey," IZA Discussion Papers 2621, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Alfred A. Haug & Ian P. King, 2011. "Empirical Evidence on Inflation and Unemployment in the Long Run," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 1128, The University of Melbourne.
    3. Hausman, Jerry, 2015. "Specification tests in econometrics," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 38(2), pages 112-134.
    4. William Baah-Boateng, 2013. "Determinants of Unemployment in Ghana," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 25(4), pages 385-399.
    5. Vanessa S. Tchamyou & Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2019. "The Role of ICT in Modulating the Effect of Education and Lifelong Learning on Income Inequality and Economic Growth in Africa," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 31(3), pages 261-274, September.
    6. Stephen Bond & Anke Hoeffler & Jonathan Temple, 2001. "GMM Estimation of Empirical Growth Models," Economics Papers 2001-W21, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.
    7. Wu, De-Min, 1974. "Alternative Tests of Independence between Stochastic Regressors and Disturbances: Finite Sample Results," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 42(3), pages 529-546, May.
    8. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    9. Sinclair, Peter J N, 1981. "When Will Technical Progress Destroy Jobs?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 33(1), pages 1-18, March.
    10. Brouwer, Erik & Kleinknecht, Alfred & Reijnen, Jeroen O N, 1993. "Employment Growth and Innovation at the Firm Level," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 153-159, May.
    11. Daron Acemoglu & Francisco A. Gallego & James A. Robinson, 2014. "Institutions, Human Capital, and Development ," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 875-912, August.
    12. Stephen Machin & John Van Reenen, 1998. "Technology and Changes in Skill Structure: Evidence from Seven OECD Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(4), pages 1215-1244.
    13. Stephen Bond & Anke Hoeffler, 2001. "GMM Estimation of Empirical Growth Models," Economics Series Working Papers 2001-W21, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    14. Misbah Tanveer Choudhry & Enrico Marelli & Marcello Signorelli, 2012. "Youth unemployment rate and impact of financial crises," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 33(1), pages 76-95, March.
    15. Zimmermann, Klaus F, 1991. "The Employment Consequences of Technological Advance, Demand and Labor Costs in 16 German Industries," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 253-266.
    16. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    17. John C. Anyanwu, 2013. "Characteristics and Macroeconomic Determinants of Youth Employment in Africa," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 25(2), pages 107-129, June.
    18. John C. Anyanwu, 2016. "Analysis of Gender Equality in Youth Employment in Africa," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 28(4), pages 397-415, December.
    19. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Balgobin, Yann & Dubus, Antoine, 2022. "Mobile phones, mobile Internet, and employment in Uganda," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(5).
    2. Yann Balgobin & Antoine Dubus, 2022. "Mobile Phones, Mobile Internet, and Employment in Uganda," Working Papers hal-03617001, HAL.
    3. Keraga, Mezid N. & Stephan, Andreas, 2023. "Does innovation stimulate employment in Africa? New firm-level evidence from the Worldbank Enterprise Survey," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 494, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ebaidalla Mahjoub Ebaidalla, 2015. "Do ICTs Reduce Youth Unemployment in MENA Countries?," Working Papers 964, Economic Research Forum, revised Nov 2015.
    2. Van Roy, Vincent & Vértesy, Dániel & Vivarelli, Marco, 2018. "Technology and employment: Mass unemployment or job creation? Empirical evidence from European patenting firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(9), pages 1762-1776.
    3. Atif Awad, 2023. "Information and communication technologies role in alleviating poverty in Sub‐Saharan Africa: Impacts and transmission channels," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2), pages 1149-1165, April.
    4. Meschi, Elena & Taymaz, Erol & Vivarelli, Marco, 2011. "Trade, technology and skills: Evidence from Turkish microdata," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(S1), pages 60-70.
    5. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2023. "Foreign Direct Investment, Information Technology, And Total Factor Productivity Dynamics In Sub‐Saharan Africa," World Affairs, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 186(2), pages 469-506, June.
    6. Simplice A. Asongu, 2023. "Mobile Phone Innovation and Doing Business in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 9(2), pages 238-269, July.
    7. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2019. "Governance, capital flight and industrialisation in Africa," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 8(1), pages 1-22, December.
    8. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2021. "Information Asymmetry and Insurance in Africa," Journal of African Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3), pages 394-410, July.
    9. Francesco Bogliacino & Mariacristina Piva & Marco Vivarelli, 2011. "The impact of R&D on employment in Europe: A firm-level analysis," DISCE - Quaderni del Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali dises1176, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    10. Borsato, Andrea & Lorentz, André, 2023. "The Kaldor–Verdoorn law at the age of robots and AI," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(10).
    11. Njangang, Henri & Nawo, Larissa, 2018. "Relevance of governance quality on the effect of foreign direct investment on economic growth: new evidence from African countries," MPRA Paper 90136, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Björn Alecke & Timo Mitze & Gerhard Untiedt, 2010. "Internal migration, regional labour market dynamics and implications for German East-West disparities: results from a Panel VAR," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 30(2), pages 159-189, September.
    13. Simplice Asongu & Christelle Meniago & Raufhon Salahodjaev, 2022. "The role of value added across economic sectors in modulating the effects of FDI on TFP and economic growth dynamics," International Journal of Emerging Markets, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 18(11), pages 5087-5108, February.
    14. Bogliacino, Francesco & Piva, Mariacristina & Vivarelli, Marco, 2011. "R&D and Employment: Some Evidence from European Microdata," IZA Discussion Papers 5908, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Francesco Bogliacino & Mariacristina Piva & Marco Vivarelli, 2011. "The impact of R&D on employment in Europe: A firm-level analysis," DISCE - Quaderni del Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali dises1176, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    16. Nasreddine Kaidi & Sami Mensi, 2020. "Financial Development, Income Inequality, and Poverty Reduction: Democratic Versus Autocratic Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 11(4), pages 1358-1381, December.
    17. James Alm & Asmaa El-Ganainy, 2013. "Value-added taxation and consumption," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 20(1), pages 105-128, February.
    18. Ilina Srour & Marco Vivarelli & Erol Taymaz, 2013. "Technological Change and Skill-based Employment Disparities: Evidence from Turkey," DISCE - Quaderni del Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali dises1393, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    19. Francesco Bogliacino & Mariacristina Piva & Marco Vivarelli, 2011. "Job Creation Effects of R&D Expenditures: Are High-tech Sectors the Key?," JRC Working Papers on Corporate R&D and Innovation 2011-10, Joint Research Centre.
    20. Srour, Ilina & Taymaz, Erol & Vivarelli, Marco, 2013. "Skill-Biased Technological Change and Skill-Enhancing Trade in Turkey: Evidence from Longitudinal Microdata," IZA Discussion Papers 7320, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:afrdev:v:32:y:2020:i:s1:p:s20-s31. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/afdbgci.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.