Malawi Exclusive
Minister of Youth and Sports Ulemu Msungama says is optimistic that more youth to be employed through the ADB funded project, Jobs for youth.
Msungama was speaking on Thursday when he toured Mbandila Technical College in the area of Traditional Authority Malengachanzi in Nkhotakota which is expected to be in oparational in December this year.
Msungama said was happy with the progress of the project saying although the project has s delayed alitle bit but the project was still within its completion range.
Msungama emphasized on the importance of the project.
“This is a very important project and as Government we expect more youth to get employed because they will be getting the garment making skills here and after their completion they will be able to employ more youth and this is what we are saying jobs for youth,” he said.
Msungama said Government has already set aside start up capital for graduates of these Colleges.
The Minister has since emphasised on quality.
“Am urging you to work had and achieve quality and this should never be compromised.” Said Msungama.
The Malawi’s Jobs for Youth Project is part of AfDB’s Jobs for Young People in Africa (JfYA) 2016-2025 strategy.
The project seeks to reduce the vulnerability of young population by creating an enabling environment for their participation in economic activities particularly in key sectors.
The project is consistent with the Malawi Development Strategy which seeks to ensure sustainable and productive decent work for all.
The project recognizes that the youth population accounts for over half of the 17 million population of the country, and yet there are limited space and opportunities for decent work.
The project will work to strengthen both the demand and supply side of labor market systems through strategies that strengthen the employability of young people and increase their capacity to engage in entrepreneurial activities.
It will primarily focus on promoting an integrated, multi-sectoral and multi-discipline that involves all key partners including Government, private sector and non-state actors.
The project will also help to build the capacity of national partners to effectively plan, implement, monitor and evaluate youth employment promotion interventions.
Ultimately, the project is expected to create an estimated 17,000 jobs for the youths of Malawi.
The project objective is to economically empower the youth population (young women and men) for improved employability in decent work and sustainable entrepreneurship in Malawi.
Specifically, the project is designed to address: (i) the lack of entrepreneurship mind-set as well as the weaknesses in technical and business skills; (ii) the lack of access to markets and information; (iii) the lack of access to finance; (iv) the weaknesses at the policy and regulatory level for the promotion of youth owned Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs); and (v) the low level of employment of youth by the existing private sector.
On beneficiaries , the primary beneficiaries will be the young population of Malawi aged between 15 to 35 years. This will include budding entrepreneurs in the informal and formal sectors and out of school youth.