The recruitment industry will likely have an important role to play in Africa’s economic recovery as governments’ begin their tentative steps out of coronavirus (COVID-19) enforced lock-down. The necessary restrictions imposed to control the spread of the disease are likely to have had economic consequences which will be acutely felt in the job market. But Recruitment Technology companies across Africa understand finding your next role isn’t simply a numbers game. We look at 35 start-ups that are helping to support the talent-matching process.
According to AfricaCheck, a fact checking service, the 2020 youth unemployment rates in Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya are 34.5%, 43.2% and 11.4% respectively. While it should be said that these figures are calculated in different ways, and therefore not directly comparable, they do offer a guide to the challenge facing job seekers across the continent.
The unemployment rate is in reality far more nuanced than simply a measure of the number of job seekers. Since there is no globally-agreed methodology, each country records this rate differently. Broadly, the measure considers both unemployed and underemployed populations and helps shed a light on the impact of seasonal unemployment, urbanisation, and structural shifts in the composition of the economy.
Going Beyond the Resume
Following on from TalentQL’s recent $0.3 million USD raise in November 2020, we took a look at talent matching and talent development companies across Africa. In total RecruitmentTech companies in Africa have raised $8.3 million USD in disclosed funding across 2020. Our market map of 35 HR-tech companies highlights start-ups and scale-ups solving issues along the recruitment value chain in Africa; from long-term recruitment to improving the visibility of freelance and developer resourcing.