Former President John Dramani Mahama has warned that if countries don’t create jobs more quickly, Africa’s rapidly expanding youth population will explode.
Mahama emphasized that conventional industries like manufacturing and agriculture cannot accommodate the millions of young people who enter the workforce every year during a panel discussion at a Public-Private Partnership Dialogue held as part of the ongoing TICAD conference in Japan.
He urged African governments to invest more in the creative industry, digital startups, and renewable energy, pointing out that these are new.
“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” He said.
