Landmark €6.5m Youth Skills Deal
Zambia Daily Mail, May 23, 2022
THAT the European Union (EU) and United Nations (UN) have signed a €6.5 million youth skills development contract for Zambia is good news indeed. These are some of the fruits of last week’s EU-Zambia Economic Forum, for which some naysayers in their typical unconstructive talk accused President Hakainde Hichilema of being pro-West investment. The forum was attended by representatives of 27 EU member countries, African Union Commission, and Bankers Association of Zambia, among others. This historic signing of the €6.5 million contract for skills development among Zambian youths could not have come at a better time than now when there are so many young university and college graduates still looking for employment.
Barely four days after the forum, President Hichilema announced in a message posted on his Facebook page that the €6.5 million contract is for supporting skills development among Zambian youths. With this development, the President is right when he says our young people should take advantage of this opportunity to contribute to Zambia’s development trajectory.
President Hichilema at the EU meeting
“When opportunity knocks, our youth have to be ready. We are happy to inform the nation that the European Union and United Nations have signed a contract for €6.5 million for skills development for increased employability programme in Zambia,” Mr Hichilema said. This is aimed at enabling the country’s institutions to train youths in various skills so that they could create employment for themselves and other Zambians. The new dawn administration has always been talking about creating jobs for youths, especially that they form the major segment of the country’s voting population. Inasmuch as this administration has placed job creation top of its agenda, young people should always bear in mind that Government is only there to create a conducive environment for investment in various sectors. It is through investments such as the EU and UN one that jobs are created, mainly by the private sector, of course in collaboration with Government. We therefore urge the youth to take advantage of the €6.5 million skills development contract to enrol in various institutions that will be responsible for skills training under this project. With the EU and UN financed contract, the focus for Zambian youths should not just be on white-collar jobs, but also to delve into various entrepreneurial endeavours to create their own job opportunities.
For any country to develop, it requires home-grown economic growth through engagement in a variety of small and medium businesses by citizens themselves. That is why we urge all well-meaning citizens to support every effort the new dawn government is making to promote investment from within and beyond the borders of Zambia. This is because the just-ended EU-Zambia Economic Forum is already bearing fruit, and hopefully more investments will unfold soon. The €6.5 million skills development contract for Zambian youths is just the beginning of better things to come under the current administration because its leaders do not just talk, but they also walk the talk. Therefore, it is entirely up to youths to get empowered with life skills for them to employ themselves and create jobs for others. We applaud the move by EU and UN to sign the €6.5 million skills development contract for our young people. This is how it should be.
Image: Christian Lue via Unsplash