From Kenyan farms to South African tech hubs: How jobs shape Africa’s regional economies

From family-run farms in Kenya and Tanzania to bustling tech hubs in South Africa and Nigeria, employment patterns tell a story of economic evolution, opportunity, and inequality.

A recent dataset from the United Nations on Employment by Economic Activity provides a granular look at this story, breaking down work across three main sectors: agriculture, industry, and services.

Some areas are still heavily dependent on farming, others are more industrial, while the most advanced economies are dominated by services like banking, healthcare, and IT.

On average, across the continent, 47.8% of Africans work in agriculture, 13.5% in industry, and 38.8% in services, reflecting a strong reliance on traditional sectors but also a growing presence of modern economic activities.

Africa by the Numbers: Sectoral Employment

Agriculture: The Backbone Still Dominates

Agriculture remains central to Africa’s workforce, even as the continent slowly urbanizes. This includes farming, fishing, forestry, and related activities. Historically, almost everyone in the world worked in agriculture, growing food to survive. Even today, in many parts of Africa and Asia, a large share of people are employed in this sector.

• Eastern Africa: 60.2% of workers (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda)
• Middle Africa: 54.4% (Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Gabon)
• Western Africa: 44.2% (Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast)

While essential, agricultural jobs often mean low income, low productivity, and vulnerability to weather and climate change. For many nations, agriculture is both a lifeline and a development challenge, especially in regions where industrialization and service sectors remain limited.

Industry: The Growth Engine

Industrial work—manufacturing, construction, mining, and energy production—has historically driven economic transformation. It shifts labour from farms to factories, raises productivity, and fuels urban growth.

• Northern Africa: 26% (Egypt, Morocco, Algeria)
• Southern Africa: 18.7% (South Africa, Botswana, Namibia)
• Middle Africa: 10.5% (Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Gabon)

Northern African economies, particularly Egypt and Morocco, show a stronger industrial base, reflecting decades of infrastructure investment and industrial policy. In contrast, Central and Eastern Africa remain largely agrarian, highlighting uneven industrialization across the continent.

Some areas are moving faster than others along this industrial path, but overall, industry is still a smaller employer than agriculture or services in most African regions.

Services: Africa’s Emerging Frontier

The service sector encompasses a wide array of work—from healthcare and education to banking, IT, hospitality, and digital platforms. As economies modernize, services increasingly dominate employment, offering higher pay and more diverse opportunities.

• Southern Africa: 61.7%
• Northern Africa: 52%
• Western Africa: 42%

In regions like Southern Africa, services already employ the majority of workers, a sign of economic transition and growing urban economies. In Northern Africa, service-oriented sectors, including tourism, finance, and telecommunications, are driving economic diversification

What the number tell us

The dataset illustrates that Africa is far from monolithic:

• Agriculture still dominates in Eastern and Middle Africa, highlighting the continent’s dependence on traditional sectors.
• Northern and Southern Africa are pivoting toward services and industry, showing faster economic transition.
• Regional disparities persist, pointing to differing policy priorities, investment patterns, and development trajectories.

Africa’s workforce is at different stages of economic evolution. Understanding these patterns helps governments, investors, and businesses target opportunities, design policies, and prepare millions of workers for the future economy.

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