African Economic Conference 2019: Experts emphasize on jobs for youth including SDGs

The African Economic Conference 2019 was inaugurated in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm El Sheikh on Monday, December 2. The three-day conference is expected to gather researchers, youth representatives, business leaders, policymakers and media representatives from Africa and other parts of the world. The objective is to hammer out policies and strategies for successful inclusive growth and job creation in the region.

The African Economic Conference 2019 opened with a call on the African policymakers to take bold steps to tackle red-tape and high startup costs in order to create decent and well-paying jobs for the continent's youth. According to Egypt's Minister of Investment and International Cooperation, Sahar Nasr, the conference provided a critical platform to address the challenges of jobs for the youth on the continent.

"Africa is the next development frontier and the youths will be the main drivers of our continent and our hope for a new continent. We need to think strategically and plan for the youths of today," Sahar Nasr said.

More than 350 stakeholders have converged on Sharm El Sheikh to participate in the 2019 African Economic Conference with this year's focus on jobs, skills and capacity development for Africa's youth. The recommendations will guide commitments of partners – the African Development Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) – to investing in youth skills and entrepreneurial development for more inclusive African development.

"A lack of jobs for the bulging youth population has become a troubling socio-economic and political emergency that requires urgent, pragmatic and forward-looking solutions. It is troubling because joblessness could result in unrest and conflict. Having a decent job is an essential part of human dignity, and joblessness could threaten our social fabric and cohesion," Charles Leyeka Lufumpa, acting Chief Economist and Vice President of the African Development Bank Group opined.

"This is a matter that all policy makers across our continent are concerned about – we all have a vision to create jobs and boost entrepreneurship…and the issue is how to convert the vision into reality," Egypt's Governor for the African Development Bank, Tarek Amer cited. Amer is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Egypt.

As just a decade left to achieve the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the issue of youth productivity is critical for Africa. The Director of Macroeconomics and Governance Division at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Adam Elhiraika emphasized on the (required) preparation of young people for productive future work, and suggested the governments to compulsorily include in the educational curriculum action-oriented entrepreneurship modules for secondary, technical schools and universities.

"Africa should work hard to make its cities engines of growth that in turn will generate employment for the youth and ensure there's equitable growth on the continent thus ensuring no-one is left behind as enunciated in the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," Adam Elhiraika said.