Lifting the skill levels of the workforce

The biannual appraisal of African economies conducted by the World Bank observes that while Sub-Saharan Africa boasts the youngest population in the world and its associated positives, there are several hurdles in the way of this economic prospect. Chief among these hurdles are the damning skill levels of Africa’s workforce, the lowest in the world as per the report, writes Eden Kironde for The New Times.

This does not reflect the efforts by the respective governments given an average sevenfold increase over the last three decades in public expenditure on the education sector geared towards building skills. Although in Rwanda more staff are trained and equipped for their respective jobs, there is still some room for improvement. According to the Rwanda Labour Force Survey Report of February 2018, approximately 70.5% of the employed population are reported to be employees, paid apprentices or interns.

Rwanda Development Board empowers the youth through several institutional, grassroots initiatives as part of a broad nationwide institutional infrastructure responsible for developing and supporting the growth of entrepreneurial SMEs. The objective of the initiative, that mainly targets fresh graduates, is to improve the employability of the youth by providing them with skills working directly with small businesses. Whilst governments play the leading role to arrest the declining trend of skill levels of the overall workforce, the private sector is not without a part to play.
Full report on The New Times site