Plan aims to create 740,000 jobs for youth annually

Kenya's ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs has initiated a Youth Employment Marshall Plan which aims to increase jobs for youths each year.

The ministry expects to be allocated Sh7.8 billion in the Budget to implement the plan, which is expected to create 740,000 jobs each year until 2012.

Post-poll violence

It is also expected to revitalise and expand youth polytechnics to offer training in technical, vocational and entrepreneurial skills.

The ministry’s chief economist, Mr Isaac Kamande, says the plan was mooted after it became evident that Kenya lacks a low skills human resource base and risks becoming a nation of managers. “We want to increase enrolment in youth polytechnics from 75,000 to 300,000 trainees,” he said.

The Justice Philip Waki-led commission which investigated the post-poll violence, established that youth unemployment was one of the key factors behind the mayhem.

“There are about 40,000 unemployed university graduates entering the job market every year,” the Waki report said.

The Kenya national dialogue and reconciliation monitoring team also pointed out that youth unemployment is a serious problem.

The team said the economy has not kept pace with the number of youths entering the job market due to the rapid expansion of the education sector. It is estimated that in Africa, seven to 10 million youths enter the labour force each year.

A recently published World Bank report, Africa Development Indicators (2008/09), shows that youths in Africa aged between 15 and 24 number around 200 million.
The report projects that given high population growth rates, the youth population is expected to double by 2045, increasing the pressure countries face with job creation.

Youths make up 37 per cent of the working age population, but 60 per cent of the total unemployed, the report says, adding that only about 10 per cent of the youth entering the labour force find wage jobs in either the formal or informal sector.

Soaring number

Due to the soaring number of unemployed youths, the World Bank says developing countries should invest more in their young people to avoid creating social tensions and being left behind in the global economy.