Objective
The lack of productive and decent jobs remains one of the most pressing challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). An estimated 82% of workers are engaged in informal occupations—primarily self-employed or in family work—leaving millions of workers vulnerable to poverty, economic shocks, and insecurity due to unstable jobs, low pay, and limited social protection. This scarcity of jobs fuels political and social unrest, including anti-government protests and coups, and drives migration to Europe. SSA’s young and rapidly growing workforce, projected to nearly double by 2050, underscores the urgent need to expand decent employment opportunities to alleviate poverty, enhance food security, and sustain economic growth.
In this ERC project, I offer the first comprehensive, long-term analysis of employment patterns in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), reconstructing occupational trends by region and gender across 33 countries from 1920 to 2020. I examine how work evolved during key periods of transformation, including colonial agricultural expansion, post-independence state-led development, the Structural Adjustment Programs of the 1980s, and economic growth from 1995 to 2015. Key questions include: Why are agricultural jobs increasing in SSA while declining in other world regions? Why is the SSA informal sector disproportionately large, especially for women, who are 14 percentage points more likely than men to hold informal jobs? And to what extent can jobs in the expanding service sector provide a pathway out of poverty?
By linking colonial and post-independence employment patterns, this project will uncover how economic transformations shaped informality, gender inequality, and stratification in the labour market. It also explores changes in work quality and social mobility, aiming to identify barriers and opportunities for structural transformation. The findings will inform policies to promote productive and inclusive employment and sustainable economic development in SSA.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
9712CP Groningen
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.