Across North Africa, work remains one of the most urgent tests of inclusive development. The region has young talent, dynamic entrepreneurs, and sectors with high growth potential, yet too many people remain outside productive employment. About 31.2% of young North Africans are not in education, employment, or training, while youth unemployment was projected at 22.3% in 2025.
"For the African Development Bank Group, the response is not only to finance projects, but to strengthen the systems that create jobs: skills, entrepreneurship, access to finance, productive value chains and private-sector competitiveness," said Mohamed El Azizi, African Development Bank Group Director General for North Africa.
The Bank Group is supporting countries in the region to expand opportunities for women, young people, and men, while helping labour markets become more inclusive and resilient.
In Egypt, the Bank is anchoring job creation in private-sector development and competitiveness. Its portfolio in the country totals about $2.0 billion, with private-sector operations accounting for nearly 39%.
The Jobs, Entrepreneurship and Livelihoods Enhancement Support project, listed by the Bank in its 2026 operations pipeline, is designed to support start-ups, micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises, and inclusive value chains. Abdourahmane Diaw, the Bank's Country Manager in Egypt, stresses that "regional integration, regulatory reform, and labor mobility are essential to unlocking Africa's full economic potential--especially for its youth."
In Mauritania, the Bank is helping rural women turn agricultural work into higher income and greater resilience. A $17 million grant approved in 2024 supports female market gardeners by improving productivity, adding value to agricultural products, and developing year-round market-garden production centres and irrigation basins. The project is expected to directly benefit up to 22,200 households and indirectly reach nearly 90,000 people.
In Morocco, the Bank approved a €100 million loan in July 2025 to support an inclusive, solidarity-based agriculture programme focused on women and youth. The operation is designed to stimulate rural entrepreneurship, strengthen food security and help small-scale farmers adapt to climate change. It will support new agricultural production and service infrastructure and help women move more firmly into local value chains, agro-processing and digital technologies. "Women who have the ambition to undertake and succeed in agriculture are our priority," said Achraf Tarsim, head of the Bank's country office in Morocco.
In Tunisia, the CAP Emploi programme is translating labour-market reform into practical opportunities. Launched in February 2025 by the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training in partnership with the Bank and national institutions, CAP Emploi combines short-term training linked to private-sector demand, entrepreneurship support, access to zero-interest loans through BTS Bank, and support for business formalisation.
Backed by €90 million in financing from the African Development Bank and a $2.5 million AFAWA grant, the programme aims to generate 118,900 formal jobs, including 76,600 direct and 42,300 indirect jobs.
"CAP Emploi "aims to unlock the potential of thousands of entrepreneurs, particularly women, " said Malinne Blomberg, Bank Group Country Manager for Tunisia and Deputy Director General for North Africa.
The Bank Group's earlier work is already showing what entrepreneurship support can achieve.
Souk At-Tanmia, an initiative implemented from 2012 to 2021, supported hundreds of entrepreneurs across Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia.
Tunisian entrepreneur Samia Ben Abdallah, founder of the AWA leather goods brand, said the programme helped her through training in strategy, marketing, and sales. "In Tunisia, there is no shortage of talent," she said, noting the country's strong textile, fashion, and leather value chains.
Together, these initiatives show how inclusive labour markets are built: not through isolated interventions, but through finance, skills, reform, and enterprise ecosystems that enable people to work, innovate, and grow. On International Labour Day, the Bank's work in North Africa points to a clear development priority: decent jobs for women, youth and men are central to inclusive growth, social stability, and long-term competitiveness.
