Business and Technology Reporter in Nairobi, Kenya
Nation Media Group
Informal work is absorbing most of East Africa’s young jobseekers as economic growth fails to generate enough formal employment for a fast-expanding labour force.
New data underline the scale of the strain. By the end of 2026, 2.3 million people aged 15–35 are projected to find jobs across the region, but most will enter low-paying, low-productivity informal work, according to research by World Data Lab, the MasterCard Foundation and the University of Cape Town’s Development Policy Research Unit (DPRU).
