With a staggering 59%, unemployment is the most serious issue confronting young people aged 18 to 35 in Morocco. This positions Morocco fourth among African countries perceiving unemployment as a top priority, according to Afrobarometer.
Entitled, “Africa’s youth: More educated, less employed, still unheard in policy and development,” the new survey shed light on the challenges faced by Africa’s youth, including unemployment rates 37%, economic management (30%), and healthcare (26%) as the top policy priorities that require action from their government.
Cabo Verde topped the list of 39 African countries, with 66% of respondents considering unemployment as a top priority for the government. Namibia and Botswana followed closely with ratings of 65% and 64% respectively.
Only 14% of young Moroccans believe their government is doing “fairly well” or “very well” in addressing unemployment and creating jobs. In contrast, in Zambia and Seychelles, 72% and 60% of their respective youth citizens believe their government is performing well when it comes to job creation.
Unfortunately, Moroccan youth aged between 18-35 expressed dissatisfaction with their country’s government performance in terms of managing the economy and improving health services, receiving ratings of 15 and 26% respectively.
Only a proportion of 44% of Moroccan youth believes that their country is heading in the wrong direction. Unlike Sudan, Gabon, and Malawi, where young adults seem to be very pessimistic, as these countries received ratings of 92%, 91%, and 90% respectively.
Moroccans aged 56 years or above also seem less pessimistic than other nationalities. Only 39% of Moroccan old citizens think that their country is going in the wrong direction, with a small 5-percentage-point difference compared to younger age groups.
Nigerian old citizens, on the other hand, seem to be the most likely in the continent to share gloomy views about the direction of their country, with a rating of 91%.
The willingness of young Moroccans to consider military intervention in the event of elected leaders abusing their power seems very low compared to other African countries.
30% of Moroccan youth and 25% of older citizens agree that it is legitimate for the armed forces to take control of the government when elected leaders abuse power for their own ends.
In Mali and Tunisia, on the other hand, a majority of citizens agreed (82% for youth 83% for elders in Mali, and 75% for youth and 66% for older individuals in Tunisia).