By Edward Acquah/Benedicta Quaye
Accra, Nov. 14, GNA – The Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P), an impact investment group, has called for funding opportunities for African universities and entrepreneurs to equip young people with essential employable skills.
With about 30 million youth expected to enter the African job market annually by 2030, the Organisation emphasised the need to improve the quality of education on the continent and increase access to training in digital and vocational skills to support sustainable job creation.
Mrs Koumba Anouma, the Director of I&P Education and Employment Programme (IP2E), made the call at a workshop in Accra to discuss the progress of the Programme with stakeholders and beneficiaries.
She said the global employment landscape had been transformed by technology and thus academic institutions particularly those in the private sector must be retooled to address the gaps.
“To ensure these young people have the opportunity to succeed, we must understand the pathways to employment and the challenges they face.
“This is how we can shape policies that promote employability, encourage entrepreneurship, and drive sustainable economic growth.” Madam Anouma said.
The IP2E, a three-year project which commenced in 2021, aims to promote the employability of African youth by improving access to education, ensuring its quality and relevance, and strengthening the linkage between academic training and industry requirements.
“Since its launch in 2021, the I&P Education and Employment initiative, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, has been instrumental in providing financial and technical support to private higher education institutions, vocational training centres, and other key actors in the education sector across the West African sub-region.” Madam Anouma said.
The United Nations has projected that between 2022 and 2050, sub-Saharan Africa will account for more than half of the growth of the world’s population. This implies that by 2050, one out of every four people on earth, and more than a third of the world’s young people (between the ages of 15 and 24), are expected to be African.
According to Afrobarometer, between 8 and 11 million African who enter the job market every year, only about 3 million secure new formal wage jobs.
Mr Regis Ouattara, the I&P Education to Employment Head of Investment, said more investment was needed to retool small and medium enterprises to modernise and expand their operations to create employment opportunities.
He said I&P was in discussion with its partners to continue the project to benefit more people.
Mr Richard Ohene Sika, Founder and President of Riohs College of Design, of the beneficiaries of the IP2E Programme, said through the Programme, the College had digitised its training programme and created a mobile application for students to conveniently learn how to sow on their digital devices.
GNA