President John Dramani Mahama has cautioned that Africa’s rapidly growing youth population could become a ticking time bomb if governments fail to create jobs at a faster pace.
Speaking during a panel discussion at a Public-Private Partnership Dialogue as part of the ongoing TICAD conference in Japan, Mahama stressed that traditional sectors like agriculture and manufacturing alone cannot absorb the millions of young people entering the job market each year.
He highlighted the creative industry, renewable energy, and digital startups as emerging sectors generating employment at a faster rate than the conventional economy, urging African governments to channel more investment into them.
“The creative sector and youth start-ups are adding jobs faster than the traditional sectors. If you take the creatives, renewable energy adds about four jobs before you can create one job in agriculture or manufacturing.
“So investing in that sector means that we can absorb more of the myriad of young people who are coming out of school. If we decide to concentrate on manufacturing and industry, Africa needs to create about 12 to 15 million jobs per year.
“You cannot create that in agriculture, manufacturing, and industry alone, but the rate at which the creatives and digital space add jobs is much faster than the traditional economy.
“It is a place that we must invest as governments in order that we can absorb more of the youth,” President Mahama said.
Silence the guns, reform economies to attract investors – Mahama to African Leaders
