AU 29: Getting to grips with youth unemployment

AU member states need to craft appropriate education curriculum which is linked to employability skills

Cathrine Mudyanadzo Correspondent
THE ongoing 29th Ordinary Session of the Summit of the African Union is running under the theme “Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investments in Youths”.

The theme of the summit aims to address a plethora of challenges that relate to investment in youth through education and training, among others, as a panacea to the unemployment crisis in Africa.

Africa, with a population of 1,2 billion (2016), an average population growth rate of 2 percent per annum and some of the poorest countries in the world, does not have the requisite human resources to overcome the challenges confronting youths in member states and the region in general.

These include employment creation, access to entrepreneurship opportunities, access to employability education and training opportunities, access to the competitive ICT technologies which enhance business competitiveness and innovativeness for youths within the region and internationally .

Youth unemployment on the African continent is a ticking time bomb and if not tackled efficiently and effectively through appropriate policies and programmes.

Youth unemployment on the African continent is associated with rapid population growth rates, structural issues specific to individual member states, low levels of education and skills required to access jobs within member states in the region and internationally.

Therefore member states need to craft appropriate education curriculum which is linked to employability skills as what the Government of Zimbabwe, through the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, is doing and the STEM initiative. This initiative in Zimbabwe helps to train youths who are relevant in the world of work and is in line with the AU theme. Education per se which is not linked to employability skills is a dangerous luxury which Africa cannot afford.

In line with the AU theme, Zimbabwe, through the Ministry of Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment, is working on a number of initiatives to create employment for the youths which include Youth Employ Zimbabwe within the Zim-Asset poverty eradication and social services cluster, Youth Make Zimbabwe within the framework of beneficiation value-addition cluster and the Youth Shape Zimbabwe which integrates youths within the utilities and infrastructure cluster. These strategies are some of the mechanisms Zimbabwe is implementing to overcome the challenges associated with youth unemployment.

More importantly, youth in the region are subdued by the fact that, historically, they were marginalised from being involved in strategic decision-making processes that affect their future at national and regional level.

In line with the Agenda 2063 of the AU, it is heartening to note that the AU is now seized with the agenda of including the youth in their development strategies to enable them to provide concrete solutions to their challenges in preparation for national and regional leader- ship.

African governments should be commended for coming up with a theme which addresses youth unemployment and their skills acquisition for employability and future leadership.

The huge African population coupled with the massive natural resources on the continent could only be a springboard of economic take-off if appropriate strategies and tactics of investment in the youths are adopted and implemented after this AU Summit.

It is also recommended that African governments, at their summit, will also take the opportunity to come up with strategies to contain the illegal migration to foreign lands from all the sub-regions of Africa. The motivations of all illegal migration is linked to escaping from poverty, fleeing from conflicts and unemployment and to be able to find hope in a new environment.

Hope for the Youths of Africa should be found within the continent through the concept of “African solutions for African problems”. The African Union should take cognisance of the fact that failure to manage the unemployment crisis will result in political, economic and social instability which will impact negatively on peace and security in the region and the good Brand Africa.

Attention by the AU should also be focused on closing the deep divisions among member states that erupted following the Gulf region crisis.

The following African countries have cut diplomatic ties with Qatar in support of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain’s decision to cut diplomatic ties with Qatar as a result of allegations that Qatar was supporting terrorism; Eritrea, Morocco, Egypt, Djibouti, Comoros, Gabon, Niger and Chad.

The AU could play its part in encouraging the pacific settlement of the dispute through an African Initiate to the conflict to avoid a spill-over effect on the African continent.

Escalation of the conflict could have far-reaching effects in parts of Africa and the Middle East in view of the political, economic and social connectiveness of the two regions. Such a conflict would impact negatively on the agenda for peace and security in the two regions and it will also affect the AU agenda on the youth currently under discussion.

Finally, the AU theme on the youths will also feed into the AU-EU Summit theme which will take place in Abidjan, Ivory Coast in November 2017. The theme of the AU-EU Summit is focused on the same theme as that of the AU.

The AU-EU Summit will explore challenges facing the youths with a special focus on issues like unemployment, migration and security and how these could be tackled by investing in the youths. Hopefully, the co-ordination of ideas, strategies and tactics at the level of these continental bilateral partners could provide the required solutions for the challenges facing the youth.