Paper short abstract:

The Igbo entrepreneurship programme is an approach that offers sustainable economic, business and independent empowerment. Being an an economic tool, the entrepreneurship can be technologically be driven, redefined and be improved for development and better opportunities.

Paper long abstract:

Based on desk reviews, interviews and findings from few countries in Africa, and specifically focusing on Nigeria, the paper identified the success Africa has made and specifically Nigeria using the Igbo Apprenticeship model of job creation. The Nigeria youth investment fund (NYIF) and other efforts towards job creation shows the resourcefulness and how goal oriented the youths have come in supporting job creation and entrepreneurship. Also, observing some of the challenges of this trend, to include, weak government policies and support, bribery and corruption, high interest on loans, weak justice system, partnership and building of employment alliances and coalitions with similar initiatives. The paper prospects optimism for sustainable youth friendly reforms for employment creation for the youth in Nigeria. This paper contributes to the a good number of other resources that has been discussed in this same area. Quality education generally is a pillar of also a pillar towards successful entrepreneurship, this cannot thrown over board, with education of the youths and being combined with entrepreneurship the best results are achieved in the opportunities, employments that Igbo entrepreneurship can bring. Nigeria, the Africa's leading economy, has a population of nearly 200 million people. Globally, it is the 30th largest economy in the world, by GDP volume. However, Nigeria's economy is on fragile oil dependence since the oil boom era, and this is very uncertain and leads to fluctuations in crude oil prices and production at the locally and international level. In 2019, according to (IMF) Nigeria recorded a growth of 2.2%. And it is projected that by 2021, it will improve up to 2.4%, still consequential to the post pandemic universal economic status and recovery conditions.

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Paper short abstract:

This paper seeks to analyze the role of life skills education and its impact on the employment of youth, with a case study in Ethiopia. We show how contextualization has the potential to tackle the contradiction of political motives in programming and enable positive liberty of young people.

Paper long abstract:

This paper seeks to analyze the role of life skills education and its impact on the employment of youth. Researchers and practitioners agree that life skills education is an effective way to fight youth unemployment, but not enough is known about the working elements of life skills programs. We will analyze the topic by exploring practical experiences with life skills training in a project to fight youth unemployment in Ethiopia, and connect this to the research on the effectiveness of the methodology that is used in this life skills training. Following this, we will explore in which manner life skills education serves as a measure to fight youth unemployment as to enable exploration of their positive liberty. Positive liberty pertains to the human desire to be the master of their own life, be moved by their own reasons and not be affected by the outside factors. The paper zooms out and discusses the political context in which the life skills program is implementing, pointing out the paradox of promoting positive liberty with life skills education, within a program that focusses on influencing the decisions people make on migration (restricting positive liberty). Balancing the different motives of the stakeholders in life skills education, which is illustrated by using the concept of positive liberty, is key for impactful implementation of life skills programs. While analyzing the working elements of life skills education, contextualization is pointed out as one of the main working elements of life skills programming. Moreover, if young people are put in the centre of program development, contextualization has the potential to tackle the contradiction of political motives in programming and enabling the positive liberty of young people.

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Paper long abstract:

Kenya's TVET sector has witnessed massive reforms and expansion since 2013, driven by government and a growing community of investors, including Kenya's private sector. As a result, the enrolment to TVET has increased from 275,000 youth in 2017 to 506,00 in 2019, not counting the numerous youth training initiatives outside of the mainstream system. While this expansion is commendable, the system carries the burden of past failures to improve job prospects for young people.

In these circumstances, two challenges stand out: 1. ensuring that TVET adapts to equip youth with the capabilities demanded for work and life today and into the future, and 2. optimizing the transition to employment to reduce the prevailing youth frustration. If no measures are taken to improve the employability of students, and appreciation of skills and qualifications of graduates by employers, training more youth may just increase youth frustration in 'qualifications without work'. The unprecedented investment of young people's and tax payers' time and money into the TVET system will all have been for nothing.

This paper proposes to explore this complexity, sharing ideas and results of a new initiative seeking to link evidence to policy and practice for greater youth employment upon graduation from TVET. The collaboration is between Zizi Afrique, a Kenya-based not-for-profit, the TVET Authority in Kenya, and Education Sub-Saharan Africa, a UK-based non-profit. The initiative has four faces:

1. the collation and synthesis of evidence on TVET,

2. the animation of evidence on youth through a digital platform,

3. the strengthening of local capacities for evidence generation and evidence consumption, and,

4. the emergence of an evidence ecosystem that can help various stakeholders, in particular trainers and employers, understand each other's needs and increase smooth transitions into work for young people.

The paper will first share evidence on youth training and employment in Kenya, looking at the unanswered questions of the disconnect between youth, training and employment. The paper will then share the initiative's theory of change, linking improved generation and use of evidence to better outcomes for young people. It will cover the structures put in place and the progress achieved within a few months, and expose the thinking and the results to scholarly scrutiny. The paper will lastly share an agnostic interpretation of Africa's future, under the scenario of strong African leadership, a posture of learning and leapfrogging, and utilizing evidence to accelerate policy and practice.

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Paper short abstract:

Education systems do not provide market-oriented skills and large groups of young people end up facing unemployment. The problem is aggravated in poor countries, like Guinea-Bissau, due to the high costs of technical and professional training as well as from political, cultural and social factors.

Paper long abstract:

The current labor market demands increasingly complex skills from workers. Education systems at the level of regular training do not make these skills available and large groups of young people without skills for specific labor markets emerge. The problem is aggravated in poor countries for the high costs of technical and professional training but also for political, cultural and social factors. This is the case of Guinea-Bissau.

These Communication will consist of two axes:

1. Systematization of the evolutionary framework of the technical-professional education system within the framework of the education and training system of Guinea-Bissau: fundamental problems; evolution of the legal framework; diagnosis of the current situation; prospects for technical-professional education according to programmatic documents; panorama presented by international agencies.

2. Role of the NGO Action for Development (AD) in the implementation of technical and professional training (courses, type of courses, statistical data) and its relationship with the labor market. Interventions of other NGO in training and vocational education.

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Paper short abstract:

Introductory QUIZ to the panel discussion

Paper long abstract:

In Africa, an estimated 122 million young people will join the labour force in the next decade - nearly three times more than the rate at which stable wage paying jobs are expected to be created. Youth unemployment and underemployment is influenced by the level of macroeconomic growth, as well as the quality of this growth (Baah-Boateng, 2016, p. 427; see also UNECA & AUC, 2017; African Development Bank, 2016; Filmer & Fox, 2014). Although Africa's share of global production has increased by 30%, its share of trade by more than one-third, and its share of world foreign direct investment has doubled, this progress has not trickled down (Chemutai & Low, 2016). Most African countries experience low productivity and low competitiveness among enterprises (formal and informal) in virtually all sectors. This constrains the creation of new and productive jobs (Dekker & Hollander, 2017). These constraints apply to both urban and rural youth. Despite youth employment being one of the top priorities on the global political agenda, coordination and implementation gaps persists on the African continent.

The paper proposed by INCLUDE will be based on information gathered in four evidence synthesis papers published between 2019-2020. These papers brought together information from a range of robust sources on key areas relevant to youth employment in Africa, such as: work-based learning schemes (WBLs), sustainable job creation, gender barriers and constraints on the labour market, and employment creation for peacebuilding. The most interesting findings will be presented in an interactive way to engage the audience. The objective is to draw a background of the youth employment challenge in Africa and provide a starting point for the more in-depth case studies presented by other panellists.

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Paper short abstract:

This paper argues that in order to render smallholders in Uganda competitive in agricultural markets, there are a number of factors to consider in developing their skills. Besides agri-skills, the need for a repertoire of soft skills is necessary to complement the technical skills.

Paper long abstract:

On the other hand, the focus on imparting only agronomic skills without regard for the skills necessary for healthy competition along the rest of the value-chain excludes smallholders from comprehensive skills development.

This study was conducted in three districts of Abim, Lira and Soroti and data was collected with aid of questionnaires and key informant interview guides. With the assistance of farmer-support organizations such as Share an Opportunity Uganda, Abim Women Together in Development (AWOTID), Agency for Sustainable Rural Transportation (AFSAT), SORUDA, and PEP under PAG in the study areas, a representative sample of farmers from each district was identified and interviewed using a questionnaire. Of the sample, respondents included youth, women, persons with disabilities. The study targeted farmers involved in cassava, maize and millet value chains which are the major income earning crops in Karamoja, Lango and Teso regions.

The technical field staff of government agencies involved in providing capacity-building support to farmers were interviewed to ascertain the nature of training interventions extended to farmers. Respondents from these agencies included staff of National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS), Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) and Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF). The study also involved Uganda National Farmers Federation (UNFFE), a national network involved in empowering farmers as well as a sample of NGOs involved in training farmers in the study areas. In addition, the review of the National Agricultural Extension Strategy was corroborated with findings from the field collected through interviews with different stakeholders.

The study findings revealed that effectively addressing skills gaps of small-scale farmers calls for well-designed capacity building interventions with a clear mission. Given that smallholders face an array of skills and knowledge deficiencies, a comprehensive training needs assessment is the logical starting point to plug these gaps. The needs assessment will need to profile not only the basic crop production skills which different farmers lack but also other skills gaps that need to be addressed to empower all farmers to access profitable markets.

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Paper long abstract:

Abstract

Ironically, Nigeria which is so rich both in terms of human and natural resources has not been able to translate these resources to achieve commensurate development outcomes due to shortfalls in theoretical and practical trajectories One reason for the dislocation between resource potential and human achievement is a lack of articulation of talents as careers trajectory for the youth. This paper offers the talent-career trajectory (TCT) to a selected aspect of the youth employment crisis, namely; youth unemployment, youth underemployment, and youth employability. From an African perspective, talent is conceptualized as the basis for educating, and resolving some aspects of the youth employment crisis. The paper adopts a descriptive-analytical method and begins with an introduction. Second, with an empirical background of the ineffectiveness of SURE-P, N-Power, Amnesty, and NYIF programmes as palliatives. Third, the TCT is conceptualized from an African perspective. Fourth, I linked education to youth employment in traditional/pre-colonial Nigeria. The fifth section interfaces the TCT with two key debates in youth studies - nature vs. nurture, and structure vs. agency. Lastly, I conclude and suggest possible institutional strategies that go beyond palliative measures to a more enduring solution for the youth employment crisis in Nigeria.

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