New hope for Algeria's unemployed youth

27/05/2009

Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia addressed a reassuring message to Algeria's young people this week, telling them the government is working hard to create new work opportunities. He said the measures provide a brighter future than the orchards of Barcelona and the building-sites of Marseille can offer.

By Mouna Sadek for Magharebia in Algiers – 27/05/09

[Getty Images] Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia told the nation's youth on Monday that his government is working hard to address unemployment.

The Algerian government is urging its young people once again to seek their fortunes at home. Faced with an ongoing problem of illegal immigration to Europe caused by a lack of jobs in many sectors across the country, officials made new assurances that young Algerians can find prosperity in their own country.

Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia addressed the issue on Monday (May 25th) while presenting the government's action plan to parliament. He promised to give greater chances of success to potential "harragas", who take their lives in their hands to seek the European dream, but also said opportunities are often no better in Europe.

"As for those of you who travel illegally to other countries," Ouyahia said, "the luckiest will find seasonal work picking oranges in Spain or as bricklayers in France. We have greater ambitions for you. Your country is Algeria."

Since the civil service sector can no longer absorb the full stream of unemployed graduates, the government has developed other measures to address unemployment, including small business development.

The state will set aside plots of land in industrial zones for youth business, and plans to create a fund and advisory body to facilitate investment. Ouyahia said these steps will "make the effort worthwhile once again".

Some have questioned the government's action plan, since there are 1.2 million unemployed Algerians and 3 million proposed new jobs. "The fact is that we're thinking about the future," he said. "Each year, 400,000 young graduates leave university and swell the ranks of the unemployed."

The leader said job creation efforts resulted in 300,000 new jobs over the past year, and said that graduates staying in school for doctoral study will receive a bonus of 12,000 dinars if they have no other source of income.

According to a recent study by the economic institution CREAD (Centre de Recherche en Economie Appliquée pour le Développement), the job market is still fundamentally unfavourable to young people.

Unemployment among young people is above 20%, according to the study, while among adults the jobless rate is 6-7%.

"These young people are mostly young girls living in cities, who face the most discrimination on the job market with unemployment rates in excess of 30%," explained lead researcher Mohamed Saib Musette.

Resourcefulness has become the order of the day for unemployed young people.

"The informal sector is growing rapidly, especially in towns where the phenomenon of young people having to take jobs for which they are overqualified is commonplace," Musette writes in the study.

"Youth unemployment and underemployment are having an impact on the social behaviour of young people," he continues, adding that many grow so frustrated they either flee the country illegally or answer one of the many calls abroad for workers in specific trades.

"The majority of those who leave the country legally are skilled," said Nabil Boubkeur of the Youth Action Group (Rassemblement Actions Jeunesse or RAJ). "They will not take seasonal jobs or work as bricklayers; they will go to companies and foreign universities."

For the rest, Boubkeur said, the future is not as bright. "The question is whether the category of young people on the lowest rung of the ladder will actually benefit from the promised measures. We need much more than a single speech to make our young people hopeful."

Mourad, 27, attempted to start his own business to avoid unemployment. "I tried ANEM, ANSEJ and ANGEM but had no luck. We all know the problem lies with the banks. They refuse to finance projects."

Facing the stress of prolonged joblessness, Mourad said: "If I could find a legal way to leave the country and go anywhere else, I wouldn't hesitate."

His brother Rahim, a commerce student, is more optimistic. "More and more foreign companies are coming to Algeria. With a bit of luck, people will be able to get jobs."