Data from six African countries indicate that the average youth underemployment rate was approximately 15 per cent in 2011 (ILO, 2017a). Figure 14 shows that youth unemployment is especially a concern in Northern and Southern Africa. In these subregions, young people also constitute a higher proportion of the total population than in other subregions, having already begun developing a significant demographic dividend. For the rest of Africa where youth populations and corresponding youth unemployment has yet to swell, there is a need to prepare accordingly.