By Kalima Nkonde
This article is a follow up on the Youth unemployment article that I wrote early this year entitled “ Zambia’s untold Story: High Youth unemployment, a ticking time bomb as Youth commits suicide”. The previous article did not suggest solutions as it was going to be too long given the poor reading culture in the country. The current one is suggesting practical solutions which merely needs political will to implement and results will show within a very short space of time if the right experts are consulted.
Zambia faces a critical youth unemployment problem which requires innovative thinking to tackle the multiple drivers, at both macro and micro levels that fuel youth unemployment. Although there are various positive macro-economic policies in the 7th National development plan aimed at increasing economic growth and foreign Direct investment, Zambia and other African Countries’ past experience have shown that these policies do not create sufficient jobs to cater for the number of the Youth population entering the labour market. It is in this regard that other direct interventions are required to supplement these policies.
The solutions to youth unemployment are multifaceted and require short term, medium term and long term and well-coordinated strategies which should be concurrently implemented ,and if done, within a period of three years, over a million of good paying jobs could be created. There are six practical interventions suggested in the article.
Government and Multinationals procurement
The first practical intervention which has not been tried, entails the formal cooperation between government and the private sector especially the big multinational companies like Banks, Mines and Chinese Construction companies. The initiative entails involving the private sector by Government negotiating with them for the establishment of formal business linkages programmes whereby they procure supplies from Youth owned small business thereby creating a market for their goods and services.
Zambia and other African countries’ recent experience has shown that foreign direct investment is not generating sufficient jobs for the labour market, partly due to mechanisation of most tasks but also due to the huge overdependence of multinationals on imports thereby exporting jobs . It is, therefore, up to smart governments to ensure that Multinationals Enterprises (MNCS) are made to generate indirect jobs through preferential procurement from youth owned companies.
Mining companies’ suppliers relocation to Zambia
The second initiatives is involves Mining houses. They could can be a source of indirect jobs if they are utilized in an innovative manner. Mining companies, for example, import 95% of their supplies. Government could negotiate with them and persuade them to force their captive suppliers abroad to relocate to Zambia where they are operating and create thousands of jobs and transfer skills. This is no rocket science.
Internship and job placement programmes
The third initiative could be entail asking the private sector to participate in internship or job placement programmes or if they have no openings, contribute funds in form of grants to be used by small companies for wages to employ interns to gain work experience.
In Zambia, there is little evidence of formal cooperation between Government and the Private Sector in order to fight youth unemployment. Zambia should copy from South Africa who has programmes where big business is involved in indirect job creation. The recent programme that was launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa in March, 2018 was the Youth Employment Service (Yes). The initiative which takes the form of a partnership between government ‚ business‚ labour and civil society is set to create 330‚000 jobs for young people in its first year. The initiative aims to see more than one-million young people being offered paid work experience over the next three years.
“We know that the depth of youth unemployment is huge and therefore we have to respond. We need effective and sustainable programmes to prepare young people for first-time employment. This demonstrates that we are a country on the move. We will be coming up with further initiatives to address youth unemployment‚” Ramaphosa said when launching the YES initiative, adding that South African government, in partnership with business would create more programmes aimed at alleviating youth unemployment.
Promotion of self employment initiatives
The fourth initiative for promotion of youth employment is self employment. The success of this intervention depends on the design of the various initiatives and the implementing agencies chosen for the purpose. The self-employment initiative entails the promotion of practical entrepreneurship programmes which are tried and tested. These programmes should entail the provision of a balanced range of support modalities such as training/skills development, mentoring and advisory services, easier access to finance through microcredit schemes, provision of grants and business start-up loans.
Graduation of Vendors to formal sector
The fifth initiative should include efforts to graduate some of the informal sector players like street vendors into formal businesses, providing them with short term entrepreneurship training courses, assisting them with a market for their products or services and providing them with capital for equipment and working capital ,and ensuring they employ additional workers in the process. This initiative can be implemented in a form of a medium to long term project funded by the World Bank or the Africa development bank .
Education system reform
The sixth and final initiative is a medium to long term solution. There is a need to focus on the reform of Zambia’s education system and the promotion of maths, Science and technical skills training so as to solve the problem of the mismatch of the skills being produced and what the labour market needs. The current basic and tertiary education system is failing as it is producing young people who are unsuitable for the labour market. This mismatch between the skills required for jobs and the levels of skills with which young people leave schools, colleges and universities with is one of the main reasons for the high youth unemployment rates. The former Minister of Youth, Sport and Child Development, Mar. Vincent Mwale did correctly make this same observation at the United Nations in 2016.
“We have young people that graduate from universities and colleges but do not have the right skills that are required on the market. The education system is kind of misplaced,” Mr. Mwale said when addressing African youths at United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum 2016 in New York.
At basic education level, there is need to emphasize the teaching of STEM subjects – Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. The introduction of courses on entrepreneurship in the school curriculum so as to change the mind set of young people at an early stage that on completion of education there are two choices: self-employment and wage employment.
At tertiary level, there is need to reduce investment in mundane University education of the 20th Century and more focus is made on research and technical training. The Technical Education and Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training Authority (TAVETA) needs to be properly realigned, well-resourced and linked to industry and entrepreneurs who have run real businesses so that it is not too theoretical in approach to training. The 21st Century is based on the knowledge economy
The initiatives suggested above can only work effectively if a special purpose vehicle to implement the multifaceted nature of the solutions is created. The research by International Labour Organisation(ILO) and the World bank have shown that programmes that integrate multiple interventions are more likely to have a positive impact on reduction of youth unemployment. What is needed is a structured system of support to the Youth to solve Youth unemployment.
The Author is a Chartered Accountant by profession , a retired Private Sector Development expert and an Enteprenuer. He is an independent finance and economic commentator/analyst and a Patriot.
PF lied that they would create a million jobs by end of first term. less than 100 000 jobs have been created. Why? Edgar and clue have no capacity to think outside the box. Just by value addition to the agricultural produce would create thousands of jobs. That is just one example
Let us not forget corruption is responsible for as much as 50% on unemployment in Zambia. If we can persuade Mr Lungu and his Ministers to stop stealing, over time, that alone can bring interest rates down and easily support the private sector to create a million jobs. Corruption is also responsible for about 25% of lost GDP growth .
If they cannot chew anything from these good strategies I am sorry the PF are not listening talk to the hand …
PF say it’s a Styupid article.
There will be a ship to take youths to middle east.
The Vision-less man stood up and proclaimed “i’ll create 2 million jobs” as his PF00Lish followers/worshipers clapped, chanted & danced in jubilation.
Today hunger & unemployment has grappled the blind followers/worshipers while the vision-less man has bought himself a gulfstream private jet, a mansion in swaziland & a mall in Uganda.
And to the list a Zambian owned “Development Bank” able to identify and fund home grown business initiatives backed and approved by a Zambian version of the Small Business Administration (SBA).
Let’s roll …
Just one thing that almost everybody gets wrong which you have too concerning this part, “The introduction of courses on entrepreneurship in the school curriculum so as to change the mind set of young people at an early stage that on completion of education there are two choices: self-employment and wage employment.” You can teach entrepreneurship but you can’t teach passion. Passion is what makes an entrepreneur an entrepreneur, otherwise it will be just teaching people to be businessmen/women.
Great article still, and I share some of your sentiments, maybe I will write a followup.
Interesting perspectives highlighted.
This lazy corrupt GRZ thinks every one can be a businessman , them giving money from slush funds as ” youth empowerment funds ” is an easy way out for them from doing hard work….they also think it is the responsibility of the privert sector to provide jobs by way of creating industries …..we keep telling them…GRZ has to be the main driver in industry creation. The easiest route is import substitutions…the 2nd point is in this article is the most relevant ….force suppliers to relocate of impose max tariffs on them.
Another lost opportunity is the solar industry. Instead of tariff free imports , make tax free assembly plants to provide jobs…..
The first thing that the PF needs to do is level the playing field. The money and opportunities afforded to their cadres is a drain on the national coffers as well as missed opportunity to have genuine entrepreneurs gain a foothold in the national cake. These will then be the germination that spars growth in employment, even though informal, to capture a myriad of newly minted potential workers that get churned by their thousands onto our streets
These are text book solutions. We need a President of integrity. No lip service and stealing.
These are completely theoretical solutions and practically would do little to tackle unemployment in Zambia. I say this because Zambia imports too much even simple things like toothbrushes. If only government could slowly find a way in which people can be empowered by producing such products. regulating the importation of brooms, mops, fruits and vegetables especially by the big shops like Shoprite and Chinese shops; there can be improvement.
The problem they face in regulating is they are too lazy to provide start-ups for the replacement manufacturing in Zambia, that is why they are scared of regulating…..they expect the private sector to create the manufacturing. These ministers are too lazy and corrupt to do the work to see to it that manufacturing plants are created……every thing
ati ” private sector , investores , fyonoo fyonoo……”
Even on importing every GRZ uniform, and school uniform, they could start by setting up smells cotton mills which would spur textile manufacture …
Donald trump has proved that costs of production should not hinder employment, infact full employment and tax contributions cancel out the argument of costs of production…..
I find this article incomplete; Youths entrepreneurship without explaining how and where these youths empowered will sell there goods and services from; can not graduate or improve their lives. You have to understand that business can not thrive if there is no liquidity in the market, and also underscore the fact that market, is an essential partner of any given entrepreneurship. In as much as the rolling out of these resources will increase a bit of liquidity in the short term, if directed in procurement without improving or indeed strengthening the buying power sector, then in a long term will have a situation where youths begin to chew there capital a situation which will render this beautiful ideal useless. We have as a nation pumped money in so called CEEC, cooperatives, farming…
You are asking where the youths will sell goods?. Ask where prostitutes sell their bodies. On the streets. Abalima amataba sell the maize on the streets too.
I got this answer on my way to the Copperbelt one day.
Thats PFools for you, they claim to have already created job… Black mountain handed to the youth and the maids that they want to send to go and suffer in the Middle East ( modern day Slavery) ….. this is what happens when you have dull leaders and Kaponya`s for ministers, counter productive
That`s PFoools for you, they claim to have already created job… Black mountain handed to the youth and the maids that they want to send to go and suffer in the Middle East ( modern day Slavery) ….. this is what happens when you have dull leaders and Kaponya`s for ministers, counter productive
No kufyalisha nasheniko,unemployment is every were even in the UK,USA,FRANCE etc it is there.Time to educate youths to become entrepreneurs is now I concur with the author of this story on the Education system reforms.The ministry of education should work on the system because the system at the moment is very bad.