Africa

• Countries covered
  • Algeria
  • Angola
  • Benin
  • Botswana
  • Burkina Faso
  • Burundi
  • Cabo Verde
  • Cameroon
  • Central African Republic
  • Comoros
  • Congo
  • Côte d’Ivoire
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • Djibouti
  • Egypt
  • Equatorial Guinea
  • Eritrea
  • Eswatini
  • Ethiopia
  • Gabon
  • Gambia
  • Ghana
  • Guinea
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • Kenya
  • Lesotho
  • Liberia
  • Libya (State of)
  • Madagascar
  • Malawi
  • Mali
  • Mauritania
  • Mauritius
  • Morocco
  • Mozambique
  • Namibia
  • Niger
  • Nigeria
  • Republic of Chad
  • Rwanda
  • Sao Tome and Principe
  • Senegal
  • Seychelles
  • Sierra Leone
  • Somalia
  • South Africa
  • South Sudan
  • Sudan
  • Togo
  • Tunisia
  • Uganda
  • United Republic of Tanzania
  • Zambia
  • Zimbabwe
• ILO Offices in Africa
  • Regional Office for Africa
  • Abidjan: ILO Country Office for Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Togo
  • Abuja: ILO Country Office for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone
  • Addis Ababa: ILO Country Office for Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan, and for the Special Representative to the African Union (AU) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
  • Algiers: ILO Country Office for Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia
  • Antananarivo: ILO Country Office for Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles
  • Cairo: Decent Work Team (DWT) for North Africa and ILO Country Office for Egypt and Eritrea
  • Dakar: Decent Work Team (DWT) for West Africa and ILO Country Office for Senegal, Cabo Verde, the Gambia, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau
  • Dar es Salaam: ILO Country Office for the United Republic of Tanzania, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda
  • Harare: ILO Country Office for Zimbabwe and Namibia
  • Kinshasa: ILO Country Office for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo and Gabon
  • Lusaka: ILO Country Office for Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique
  • Pretoria: Decent Work Team (DWT) for Eastern and Southern Africa and ILO Country Office for South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini
  • Yaounde: Decent Work Team (DWT) for Central Africa and ILO Country Office for Cameroon, Sao Tome and Principe and Equatorial Guinea

Regional priorities

• Decent jobs for Africa, in particular for young women and men

  Africa's employment challenge impacts everyone, particularly young women and men, necessitating a targeted focus on youth employment. Addressing this requires a comprehensive pro-employment strategy that considers all related factors.

• Improved skills and technology

  To strengthen the labour market and enable more women and men to access productive employment, we must create inclusive skills ecosystems that integrate education, training, and lifelong learning into economic and social policies. These ecosystems, informed by robust labour market data and the latest technological advancements, will align and anticipate skills needs, to foster decent and productive employment for all in Africa.

• Inclusive transformation for decent work in the informal and rural economy

  The vast majority of Africa's labour force and enterprises are part of the informal economy, marked by low wages and productivity, and prevalent decent work deficits. With 60% of Africans living in rural areas facing high informality and climate vulnerabilities, the ILO is committed to aiding in the design of coherent strategies for a just transition that enhances decent work opportunities and ensures social justice for all.

• A conducive environment for sustainable enterprises

  Many African countries have enterprise promotion and support agencies that need strengthening by expanding their focus to include not only SMEs but also microenterprises in the informal economy and social enterprises, aiding their formalization. The ILO therefore will continue to support the full implementation of the 2017 Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy (MNE Declaration) across Africa, including through support to the tripartite constituents on the continent.

• Effective and inclusive tripartism and social dialogue

  Social dialogue requires free, independent, strong and representative employers’ and workers’ organizations, able to exercise the right to freedom of association and enjoy the right to collective bargaining. It also needs well-resourced labour administrations and robust institutions. The ILO supports these bodies to include the informal economy, strengthen labour administrations to tackle decent work challenges, and ensure their active participation in dialogue and UN reform processes.

• Social and labour protection for all

  Only 18 per cent of the African population receive at least one social protection benefit. Most of those excluded work in the informal economy and many are locked in a vicious cycle of vulnerability, poverty and social exclusion. This necessitates a focus on supporting member states to provide universal access to comprehensive, adequate and sustainable social protection.

• Effectively applied up-to-date labour standards and promotion of gender equality

  The effective implementation in law and practice of international labour standards promotes a cycle of human-centered development, boosting productivity and living standards. The ILO will continue to encourage and support African governments to ratify and apply current standards, particularly around the promotion of gender equality, offering technical assistance, enhancing labour administrations' capabilities, and strengthening social partners and dialogue structures to ensure effective labour market governance.

Partners

• Intergovernmental organizations
  • African Union
  • African Development Bank
• Workers' organisations
  • African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa)
  • Organisation of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU)
  • Southern African Trade Union Coordination Council (SATUCC)
  • East African Trade Union Confederation (EATUC)
  • Horn of Africa Confederation of Trade Unions (HACTU)
  • Organisation of Trade Unions of West Africa (OTUWA)
  • Organisation of Trade Unions of Central Africa (OSTAC)
• Employers' organisations
  • BUSINESSAfrica Employers Confederation
  • International Organisation of Employers (IOE)

• Work with us
  • Job opportunities at the ILO
  • Internships at the ILO
  • Consultancy opportunities
  • Procurement opportunities