MSMEDA signs 5 contracts for youth employment in Assiut

CAIRO – 13 May 2018: The Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (MSMEDA) will sign on Monday five contracts for youth employment in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Assiut in cooperation with five NGOs and with funding from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Head of MSMEDA Nevine Gamea said in a statement that the contracts come in light of the state’s ambitious plan to curb illegal immigration.

Egypt’s unemployment rate slipped to 11.8 percent in 2017, compared to 12.5 percent in 2016, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said last month.

CAPMAS said that the unemployment rate among young people from 15 to 29 years old recorded 24.8 percent of the total labor force in 2017, clarifying that the rate among males reached 20 percent, while among females reached 36.5 percent.

In the same age range, the unemployment of holders of intermediate, university and higher degrees reached 31.8 percent of the total labor force in 2017; 24.9 percent for males and 47.2 percent for females.

Egypt’s labor force recorded 29.47 million individuals in 2017, compared to 28.93 million individuals in 2016, with a 540,000 individual increase, the data showed.

The unemployment rate in urban areas recorded 14.5 percent, compared to 9.8 percent in rural areas due to the availability of employment opportunities in rural areas.