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Trinity Impact Evaluation Unit (TIME)

You are here Research > Political Economy, Urban and Migration > Constructing African Cities: Worker Welfare in Dakar

Constructing African Cities: Measuring and Enhancing Construction Worker Welfare in Dakar

senegal

  • Researchers:

    • Martina Kirchberger, Carol Newman, Vincent Thorne, Sveta Milusheva

  • Partners:

    • Executive Council of Urban Transport in Dakar (CETUD), APIX and Ageroute

  • Location:

    • Dakar, Senegal

  • Sample:

    • 3.5 million people within an area of 550 km2

  • Timeline:

    • 2018 - ongoing

  • Theme:

    • Urban Mobility

  • Description:

    • As is common to many large cities in Sub-Saharan Africa, the predominantly young population of Senegal faces limited opportunities for participation in the formal labour market. The high job insecurity and labour informality, especially among the poor and the youth, raises major concerns about how to provide jobs and livelihoods for Africa’s youth. Rapid population growth and urbanization is also placing substantial demands on Africa’s infrastructure with major investments in public infrastructure, including transport, telecommunications, and public housing, crucially needed. The labour-intensive nature of such projects provides an opportunity for job creation in the sector, which is one of the main sectors of employment for young men particularly. This Impact Evaluation (IE) aims to study and quantify the impacts of these jobs on workers, focusing on two questions in particular: (i) What are the net short and medium-term effects on worker welfare and future employability of offering jobs in the construction sector to low-skilled workers? (ii) What are the short and medium-term effects of offering non-cognitive training to construction workers on welfare and on obtaining a job after finalizing their current contract? To answer the first question, we will use the BRT construction and conduct a randomized control trial (RTC). For the second question, we test a training intervention focused on non-cognitive skills, in particular conscientiousness. The results will provide governments with estimates of the benefits of complementary worker training when it undertakes the building of large infrastructure projects.
      For more information visit: https://www.worldbank.org/en/research/dime/brief/transport