Young people in East Africa need job skills - or we will lose a generation
By Deogratious Egeru, Enterprise, Development & Innovation Regional Coordinator, Ripple Effect
Every year more young people in Africa are finding it hard to get work. The youth labour force in Africa has nearly doubled over the past three decades, while in the rest of the world these numbers have stayed the same or are shrinking, according to the ILO.
This pool of talent offers huge opportunities, but unless we can provide employment for this energetic young population we’re looking at an alarming picture.
Without paid work opportunities, young people are very vulnerable to exploitation. Without income, they remain dependent on their parents, holding back their families and the development of their countries, and the region.
The gaps in education
The problem lies with an education system that doesn't place enough value on building workplace skills.
Many young people leave schools without any of the training or experience that would make them employable, or will help them to create their own work.
And this particular generation has also lost two years of post-school work experience and apprenticeship opportunities as a result of COVID 19.
So, what needs to be done…
My top 3 fixes for youth unemployment in East Africa:
1. First and foremost: provide quality education.
The emphasis should be on skills development to build employability. And that includes good communication skills, developing creativity and critical thinking, confidence in problem-solving, and lots of experience in working cooperatively.
2. Promote industry
We don’t need to be the new bio-tech centre of the world: we should capitalise on what already exists. We should develop our agroprocessing sector, using crops regularly grown to create products that are in demand in our region; for example, flour and other products from maize, and fibres for textiles.
Responsible economic planning can develop industries which will serve us in the future: developing wireless communication networks, solar energy, sustainable agro-processing and horticulture, eco-tourism. The ICT industry has the potential to solve immediate problems and create relevant jobs for young people in East Africa.
3. Develop our young entrepreneurs
Our young people are ambitious, and globally connected. They have dreams and ideas for creating their own businesses, and we need an environment that enables this to happen.
We need to provide opportunities for business coaching and mentorship as well as financial and business education. This can start with learning things as basic as how to register a business. Simple skills and exposure to different opportunities can open the door to ambition and encourage young entrepreneurs to develop and thrive.
How Ripple Effect is working on youth unemployment
We build skills by developing youth-focused projects.
Our Living with Wildlife project in Murchison Falls, Uganda placed 142 young people in vocational apprenticeships in tailoring, catering, masonry, and construction.
We promote industry by helping young people choose industries that fit with their local needs and will promote economic development in the region.
Claire, a project participant in our Ikawa n’Inka project in Rwanda chose to grow coffee because it’s a good cash crop for her region. She sells her produce to a local cooperative which guarantees her a fair price for her coffee cherries.
We promote entrepreneurship by supporting Self-Help Groups where young people can learn skills, have a means of saving money, and can access start-up loans (via formal links to financial services, or community-led cooperatives). Participants develop an enterprise together and learn how to increase its productivity and profits.
The Ejoheza Youth Group in Rwanda developed a microbusiness that purchased a grain milling machine which will provide a service to the farms in their region.
At Ripple Effect we believe in a future where everyone can thrive
And that means including young people in our work. Our programmes have always had a strong focus on including woman, and the disabled, but we didn’t always seek out young participants. Now we do.
Young people need and deserve the skills to deal with 21st century problems, and the atmosphere to flourish creatively as entrepreneurs.
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