Our government should concentrate on how to secure development and drive economic growth with inclusion. We need to reason beyond the macro fundamentals of growth to how to diversify our economies and create job opportunities for young people.
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the African Development Bank, people under the age of 25 account for about 60% of total unemployment in sub-Saharan Africa. On average, 72% of the youth population lives below the $2 a day poverty line, according to a World Bank survey. In Nigeria, my own country, about 63% of the population is under 25. Unemployment is at 23.9%, with youth unemployment at about 37%.
How can this problem be solved?
Firstly, to keep pace with population development, it is important that Africa's monetary development proceeds. To guarantee this, we must look past on primary commodity exports and natural resources. We must diversify our economies by concentrating on alternative sources of development and employment creation. We need to add value to agriculture and other commodities. We need to develop manufacturing, petro-chemicals and other sectors.
It is important that we fill the infrastructure gap, which is costing Africa at least 2% in GDP growth annually. We need to join hands with the private sector and invest proceeds from our natural resources in critical infrastructure like power, roads, rail, ICT, and water and sanitation. We need to develop our financial systems to provide flexible and timely credit. We need to develop capacity for entrepreneurship, especially among the youth, as a major driver of job creation.
In Nigeria, we are focusing on high-value agriculture, where we expect to create 3.5m jobs by 2015. We are developing manufacturing and the housing, ICT, solid minerals and creative industries. We are also closing the gaps in our infrastructure. We have embarked on a comprehensive privatisation programme in our power sector and are investing some of our petroleum subsidy savings in building roads and bridges, and improving our rail transport system.
Secondly, we must create our human capital in Africa. We have to enhance access to instruction, particularly for young ladies and women, and guarantee training for our youngsters to get enough abilities they need to work.
Thirdly, we have to assemble security nets. We have to create character stages and biometric frameworks that will encourage this. We have to assemble an expense framework that can proficiently redistribute pay to those at the base. In Nigeria, we launched a pilot phase of a conditional cash transfer scheme in May, to support maternal and child health.
Fourthly, in all actuality Africa needs to give careful consideration to demographic issues. I accept we have not talked about this enough. China's much-reviled one child policy was crucial to its economic success. I'm not proposing we take after this, however we Africans should now search for our own particular homegrown arrangements that would deal with our population development so whatever economic growth we achieve can be poverty-eradicating and more inclusive. Instruction for women and young ladies is key.
Fifthly, while our young can present challenges to our economic development, they can also present unique opportunities. In the 1940s, the Asian Tigers such as South Korea found themselves in a similar situation to Africa's today. They had a very young population and built their economies on the backbone of this labour force.
In the short term, however, we need to introduce more job-creation programmes. In Nigeria, we have engaged in programmes to create short-term job opportunities, including a community services programme for unskilled youth, and a graduate internship scheme, which will support 50,000 university graduates to acquire work experience in private-sector entities. We also created a special fund to provide grants of up to $70,000 to young entrepreneurs.
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the African Development Bank, people under the age of 25 account for about 60% of total unemployment in sub-Saharan Africa. On average, 72% of the youth population lives below the $2 a day poverty line, according to a World Bank survey. In Nigeria, my own country, about 63% of the population is under 25. Unemployment is at 23.9%, with youth unemployment at about 37%.
How can this problem be solved?
Firstly, to keep pace with population development, it is important that Africa's monetary development proceeds. To guarantee this, we must look past on primary commodity exports and natural resources. We must diversify our economies by concentrating on alternative sources of development and employment creation. We need to add value to agriculture and other commodities. We need to develop manufacturing, petro-chemicals and other sectors.
It is important that we fill the infrastructure gap, which is costing Africa at least 2% in GDP growth annually. We need to join hands with the private sector and invest proceeds from our natural resources in critical infrastructure like power, roads, rail, ICT, and water and sanitation. We need to develop our financial systems to provide flexible and timely credit. We need to develop capacity for entrepreneurship, especially among the youth, as a major driver of job creation.
In Nigeria, we are focusing on high-value agriculture, where we expect to create 3.5m jobs by 2015. We are developing manufacturing and the housing, ICT, solid minerals and creative industries. We are also closing the gaps in our infrastructure. We have embarked on a comprehensive privatisation programme in our power sector and are investing some of our petroleum subsidy savings in building roads and bridges, and improving our rail transport system.
Secondly, we must create our human capital in Africa. We have to enhance access to instruction, particularly for young ladies and women, and guarantee training for our youngsters to get enough abilities they need to work.
Thirdly, we have to assemble security nets. We have to create character stages and biometric frameworks that will encourage this. We have to assemble an expense framework that can proficiently redistribute pay to those at the base. In Nigeria, we launched a pilot phase of a conditional cash transfer scheme in May, to support maternal and child health.
Fourthly, in all actuality Africa needs to give careful consideration to demographic issues. I accept we have not talked about this enough. China's much-reviled one child policy was crucial to its economic success. I'm not proposing we take after this, however we Africans should now search for our own particular homegrown arrangements that would deal with our population development so whatever economic growth we achieve can be poverty-eradicating and more inclusive. Instruction for women and young ladies is key.
Fifthly, while our young can present challenges to our economic development, they can also present unique opportunities. In the 1940s, the Asian Tigers such as South Korea found themselves in a similar situation to Africa's today. They had a very young population and built their economies on the backbone of this labour force.
In the short term, however, we need to introduce more job-creation programmes. In Nigeria, we have engaged in programmes to create short-term job opportunities, including a community services programme for unskilled youth, and a graduate internship scheme, which will support 50,000 university graduates to acquire work experience in private-sector entities. We also created a special fund to provide grants of up to $70,000 to young entrepreneurs.
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