African high-level officials and other stakeholders met in Tunisia’s capital Tunis, to discuss ways of upscaling skills development and decent job opportunities for the youth on the continent.
The two-day forum named: “Digital Skills Forum for African Youth”, focussed on ways of equipping young Africans with the necessary skills to make use of new and emerging technologies in order to access jobs or become self-employed. In attendance were African ministers of education and vocational training, youth organisations, research institutions and development partners.
Egyptian Deputy Minister for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), Dr Ahmed Elgeushey, told Digital Skills Forum for African Youth: “It is time to improve the future of Africa’s youth by closing the skills gap between supply and demand, and ensuring that young people, women and people with disability, receive equal and specialised 21st Century skills training needed for employment and entrepreneurship. We need to respond to this challenge by professionalising technical and vocational education and training [TVET], adopting promising solutions, and replicating best practices across the continent.”
African Union (AU) Commissioner representative, Mr Nicholas Ouma said: ”The African Union has developed the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 16-25) and TVET Strategy to foster youth employment which provides concrete recommendations to address policy issues, challenges and gaps that can be aligned to national needs and priorities.”
Africa has the youngest population in the world and is the second largest populated continent on earth. It is estimated that 60 per cent of Africans under the age of 25 do not have jobs.
Accordingly, youth unemployment is a development challenge the continent should address in a systematic and coordinated manner.
”As the continent grows, it is an opportunity to invest in Africa’s current and future workforce, and to prepare young people with market orientated practical skills and know-how needed to drive growth of African economies,” Chief Executive, The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)Agency, Dr Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, said in a message sent to the participants.
In support of this pledge, the African Union Commission (AUC), NEPAD Agency, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) and German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) financed through the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development developed the Skills Initiative for Africa (SIFA).
The initiative aims to promote and replicate successful practices and African solutions that contribute to decent employment, skills development and youth participation in entrepreneurship. It does this by providing financial and technical support to skills development initiatives in African countries.
The message by Director GIZ Office to the African Union, Dr Inge Baumgarten, read as follows: “Africa is by far the youngest continent on the globe. Having a young population can be challenging but also offers a huge opportunity to the African nations.
“If a young workforce – young men and young women – can be offered a good education as well as productive jobs, both the people and the state will have a prosperous future. Worldwide innovation and productivity in the economies are directly linked to skilled and creative people, and opportunities to do business. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense to invest in young people, their education, skills and employment, as we do with our programmes, to create better future prospects for Africa’s youth.”
Source: http://thenationonlineng.net/african-officials-commit-to-unleash-skills-revolution-for-youth/