Africa must invest in youth to reap demographic dividends

WINDHOEK, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) – Africa could miss the opportunity to reap demographic dividends if young people on the continent did not end up in productive jobs, a senior official said Wednesday.

Hopolang Phororo, director of the International Labor Organization (ILO) country office in Harare, Zimbabwe, made the remarks at a meeting of the Ministries of Labor, Finance, Trade and Industry. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) industry that ended here in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. Wednesday.

The three-day meeting aimed to coordinate efforts to maximize job creation and productivity in the SADC region and to continue deliberations on the dimensions of employment and economic development.

According to Phororo, young people on the African continent are less likely to be employed, with youth unemployment three times higher than that of adults.

"This rapid unemployment among the young African population would have a negative impact on social and economic development," she said.

The ILO official said that to meet the challenge of boosting Africa's youth, robust investment and labor market policies that promote stable professional relationships and business-sensitive plans are needed. # 39; employment.

"As Member States face and are characterized by a high rate of youth unemployment and underemployment, it is therefore essential that the region deepen its reflections on the demographic dividend of young people, budgeting, sound policies and entrepreneurship. extensive tripartite consultations, "she said. .

At the same time, Maxwell Parakokwa, Senior Program Officer at the SADC Secretariat, said that young people in the SADC region were also in a precarious job situation.

In addition to unemployment, the region is also facing employment insecurity, particularly the massive downturn in the mining sector and the informal economy, according to Parakokwa.

A report published in 2017 by the International Labor Organization indicates that about 76.7% of young people work in the informal sector, compared with 57.9% of working adults.

"We need to bring economic growth to a level that will create and maintain more and better jobs for young people in our region and in Africa as a whole before it's too late." ", did he declare.

Namibian Deputy Minister of Labor, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation, Tommy Nambahu, said the meeting agreed to create a new momentum, focused on youth, to create jobs and raise socio-economic challenges through reforms and coordinated measures.

Africa is ranked as the youngest continent in the world, with the United Nations Development Program placing 60% of the African population under 25 years of age.