Cote d'Ivoire president promises to address youth unemployment

Cote d'Ivoire President Alassane Ouattara on Wednesday promised to address the challenge of youth unemployment which has reached critical proportions in the country.

Speaking during a cabinet meeting held in Abidjan, Ouattara said appropriate measures will be taken in the coming days to address the challenge.

"Unemployment, especially youth unemployment, remains a real concern. This is why I have made the issue of youth employment and job creation activities a personal commitment," he explained.

"Over a million jobs have been created since we came to power. But we shall have to increase the number of jobs because these are not enough," the president said.

While announcing the creation of a fund to specifically address the problem of youth unemployment, Ouattara promised to initiate projects that have capacity to create more jobs.

Cote d'Ivoire government asserts that the country's unemployment rate could be 5.3 percent if "international criteria" is used, but it could reach 25 percent if local realities characterised by under-employment and informal employment are taken into account. Endi