Africa Talks Jobs 2018

The Africa talks Job event is an annual conference that was first initiated in 2017. This year, the African Union Commission, with the help of other bodies such as the New Partnership for Africa`s Development (NEPAD), Business Africa. It was also supported by the European Union (EU), the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the Pan African University Programme (PAU), the Skills Initiative for Africa (SIFA) and the Continental Africa Agriculture Programme (CAADP)came together  to discuss the ever-increasing number in Africa's workforce value and also to proffer solutions towards creating jobs and encouraging youth entrepreneurship across Africa. More than 160 representatives of youth, business, investment, education, policy-making and civil society from all African regions as well as European partners convened at the conference, which held at Addis Ababa on the 30th to 31st October, 2018. 

WAVE, represented by Ruth David was present at the event and made contributions towards this continental building movement. The stakeholders at the event outlined the following  key policy recommendations to promote skills development and entrepreneurship:

• Given the imperative of a conducive entrepreneurship ecosystem, the African Union and member states should enhance policy frameworks and implement appropriate policy, institutional and regulatory frameworks to promote youth entrepreneurship.
• A paradigm shift regarding the role of the education sector in preparing young people for entrepreneurship has to take place. Emphasis entrepreneurship education throughout the entire learning system from early childhood to TVET and higher education. Adapt the curricula and pedagogy so as to underscore hands-on learning experiences and the acquisition of practical skills.
• Strengthen partnerships between the private sector and education providers to leverage technical and financial resources for the support of youth-led start-ups through establishing national and regional incubation hubs and entrepreneurship centres.
• Implement the TVET Policy Framework to address the need for both the formally and informally educated. 
• Strengthen data gathering and access to the use of accurate, relevant and reliable labour market information (LMI) for decision making and job matching. 
• Involve more youth in the dialogue and formulation of development pathways for career orientation and employment. 

The conference was followed by a Youth Day on November 1st where AU launched celebrations including workshops, panel discussions and policy roundtables around the theme of “Raising Youth Voices Against Corruption in Africa”.