Education et emploi: Tentative d’explication du chômage des diplômés de l’enseignement supérieur en milieu urbain Camerounais

Employment-related problems continue to grow in both industrialized and developing countries, with large numbers of women and men exposed to unemployment or constrained to precarious, temporary or poor-quality jobs. In Cameroon, despite low levels of unemployment at the national level, the unemployment rate among holders of post-secondary qualifications is substantially higher than among those with lower levels of education. Given this observation and in keeping with the recommendations of the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in Ouagadougou in 2004, several actions have been undertaken in Cameroon to promote the creation and monitoring of employment, including notably the creation of a ministry in charge of employment problems, of an Observatory on Employment (ONEFOP), and of the National Youth Council (Conseil national de la jeunesse). The provision of incentives in favor of self-employment and youth employment through projects and support programs such as the Integrated Support Project for Informal Sector Actors (Projet intégré d'appui aux acteurs du secteur informel – PIAASI), the artisan support project, the Support Program for Rural and Urban Youths (Programme d’Appui à la Jeunesse Rurale et Urbaine -- PAJER-U), etc. Only one of these initiatives, the Graduate Jobs Program (Programme Emplois Diplômés -- PED) specifically targets holders of post-secondary qualifications in general. The objective of this communication is to identify the causes of unemployment among holders of post-secondary qualifications.