South Africa’s unemployment crisis remains a serious challenge.
Prof. Gabila Nubong, economist and senior lecturer at North-West University
According to Statistics South Africa, the official unemployment rate dropped slightly to 31.9% in the fourth quarter of 2024, down from 32.1%. Despite this small improvement, around eight million people were still without work by the end of the year.
The expanded unemployment rate, which includes discouraged job seekers, remained high at 41.9%.
Youth unemployment, one of the country’s most pressing issues, also dipped slightly from 45.5% to 44.6% among those aged 15 to 34.
These numbers show a tiny step in the right direction, but they also make it clear: bold, focused action is urgently needed to grow the economy and create jobs.
Join our upcoming webinar “Navigating Economic Stagnation in South Africa” featuring Prof. Gabila Nubong, a respected economist and senior lecturer at North-West University.
He will unpack the root causes of economic stagnation, break down the challenges behind these statistics, and explore real, workable solutions.
We’ll also look at how emerging markets and youth entrepreneurship can help drive South Africa toward a stronger, more resilient future.
Webinar details
Date: Wednesday, 21 May 2025Time: 12pm to 1pm (SAST)Teams meeting link: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/ab83dde3-97f4-4d87-99bb-89919da1bfa0@b14d86f1-83ba-4b13-a702-b5c0231b9337Duration: One hour, including a 20-minute Q&A session
For more information, please email Angeline Marokoane at az.ca.uwn@enaokoraM.enilegnA.
Prof. Gabila Nubong bio
Prof. Gabila Nubong is a political economist with a master’s in economics and PhD in International Relations from the University of Pretoria. He is currently an associate professor at the School of Economics of the North-West University, South Africa. His research interests span across this nascent area of developmental regionalism and comparative regionalism with a focus on European Union and African Union integration processes.
He has published articles and book chapters on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCTA) focusing on drawing lessons from the European Union Integration experience. His current research is on the drivers on regional integration in the SADC region, focusing on trade, market integration, industrialisation, and peace and security. He also has a keen interest in pan Africanism and the African renaissance discourse with a focus on African growth and economic development questions focusing on the African Union integration and developmental processes and programmes.
His recent publications have covered the areas of developmental regionalism, the African Continental Free Trade Area, political and economic institutions, foreign direct investment, and regional economic integration. Before joining the university, he worked as an economist for the European Union Delegation to South Africa, and as a project officer at the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) in Maastricht, The Netherlands. He has served as a consultant for the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program on the socio-economic response to Covid-19 for Guinea Bissau and the African Union and NEPAD on capacity imperatives for the implementation of the SDGs in selected African countries.
