28 Sep 2015

African countries can reap handsome rewards if they invest in youth targeted skills development.

Speaking at the University of Botswana (UB) Foundation Dinner held in Gaborone recently, Dr Nkosana Moyo, an African corporate leader, said that was because youth made up a large percentage of Africa’s population. 

Dr Moyo, a former Zimbabwean minister of Industry and International Trade, and had served in several leading companies’ boards, including Impala Platinum and Old Mutual PLC, said targeted skills development would lead to innovative young people.

He indicated that it was important for African states to learn from developed states, which he said strongly, anchored their development models on their culture. 

“Countries like Japan or Germany are well developed but they are well rooted in their culture.  

In Africa we adopted colonial systems and did not indigenise them, making it difficult for our people to relate, setting us up for failure. We need to modernise but our young should be taught to create institutions and products that speak a language understood by their people,” he said.

Again, he said the challenge of a large number of African youth being unemployed or uneducated was a ticking time bomb that needed to be addressed. 

“60 per cent of the African population is made up of young people, but half of them do not have education or are educated but unemployable. 

That is a large segment of the population that could be forced by their situation to turn against their own countries’ systems and create a revolution.  

We need to target each person’s ability, train them adequately and ensure that they benefit from their countries and would have more to lose if there would be chaos,” he said.

Furthermore, he said young people should realise that they can use their majority to effect political change. 

“Young people dominate and we live in majoritarian systems, the youth should channel their energy towards political change where you have bad governance as an impediment for economic growth and social development.  

Instead of allowing themselves to be used by self-serving elites, young people should be proactive instead of seeking to be accommodated in a particular chair, create your own table,” Dr Moyo said.

UB Foundation board of trustees deputy chairperson, also Bank of Botswana governor, Ms Linah Mohohlo, said their foundation aimed to instill a culture of excellence, playing a part in the nurturing of human capital in Botswana, contributing to the growth of the country’s economy and social development. 

Ms Mohohlo said they assisted graduates to pursue post-graduate studies, giving them the chance to be further equipped academically, strengthening the research element of their scholarly work and producing knowledge. 

The event, graced by UB chancellor, second  president Sir Ketumile Masire among many dignitaries, raised funds from contributing companies such as Investec Assert Management, Choppies, Botswana Life and Stanbic Bank of Botswana, among others. Ends