The African youth and women stand to greatly benefit from the technological boom and educational improvements facilitated by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), directed towards improving the productive sectors of the economy, which will be instrumental in the development of employable skills.
This was revealed during the African Economic Research Consortium’s (AERC) 59th biannual plenary session of the biannual research workshop held Monday, with a focus on the importance of job creation and poverty reduction on the continent.
The session themed Youth, Demographic Dividend, Migration, and Economic Opportunities in African Economies was a culmination of research by leading academics who sought to review the opportunities, risks, and challenges that affect the youth and how African economies can harness the trade-offs of demographic dividend and migration for sustainable development.
Speaking at the official launch of the 59th bi-annual workshop plenary, Prof. Njuguna Ndung’u, the Cabinet Secretary of the National Treasury and Economic Planning Ministry, acknowledged AERC’s work in complementing governments across the continent to tackle the issues around youth and unemployment.
“About 10–12 million youth in Africa enter the job market, but only a quarter of that population is absorbed into the labour market. Youth is an untapped resource, and we have an opportunity to accelerate the socioeconomic situation on the continent if we harness the skills of this population. We should expose the youth to entrepreneurial and leadership skills at a young age to establish their access to employment,” he said.
“Human capital development through education is key to a country’s growth. We need to equip students with skills that are relevant to the job market. Governments need to work alongside the private sector to initiate drives to create job avenues for young men and women through business financing, market access, and mentorship. In this digital era, we need to be cognizant of the need to empower them digitally to have access to the various digital jobs, and it is through such forums that we will get to forge ahead,” he added.
The plenary session also noted that fronting human capital development to enhance youth skills to nurture employability and entrepreneurship via widespread technical and vocational education and training (TVET) provision was also a major key session. Aligning the education curriculum to embody science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related courses will likely spur innovativeness and ingenuity in young people, thus creating jobs in the digital space, the manufacturing sector, and the ever-growing AI-driven future.
“This forum hopes to inspire young African researchers by exposing them to emerging topical and policy-relevant issues on themes and learning from senior academics as they encounter challenging and intractable development problems. The population provides great opportunities if Africa can fully capitalize on this increased workforce and consumer base to feed more people with more nutritious and affordable food. Conversely, without proactive measures, they could pose significant challenges, including continued food insecurity and unemployment,” said Prof. Dominique Njinkeu, AERC Interim Executive Director.
The session also tackled the issue of migration, which is mostly looked at as a development problem as forced human displacement is normalized. This erodes the economic potential embodied in skilled youth, robbing the African continent of the means for meaningful economic transformation. However, there is an opportunity to utilize Africans in the diaspora for the good of the continent.
“We need to make the African migration an opportunity for development on the continent. Africans in the diaspora have achieved a lot for the continent across various sectors by contributing to economic development back home to create the continent that we want. The contributions of Africans in the diaspora cannot go unmentioned when we discuss the continent’s growth agenda. Their remittances significantly contribute to GDP and provide financing to the government and families. They are also trendsetters and role models for the youth to help craft practical strategies and decisions in the workplace. We need to look at them as ambassadors of the continent,” said Professor Kevin Chika Urama, Chief Economist and Vice President of the African Development Bank.
