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Youth and ICT Skills in African Labour Markets

Youth and ICT Skills in African Labour Markets. Kwabia Boateng UN Economic Commission for Africa Presented at the Regional Meeting on Youth Development in Africa June 27-29, 2006 UNCC, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Objective of paper.

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Youth and ICT Skills in African Labour Markets

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  1. Youth and ICT Skills in African Labour Markets Kwabia Boateng UN Economic Commission for Africa Presented at the Regional Meeting on Youth Development in Africa June 27-29, 2006 UNCC, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

  2. Objective of paper • To present observed changes in ICT skills requirements in the job market • To highlight Ghana’s ICT4AD Policy and the prospects for developing youth needs in the ICT sector

  3. Recent LM Developments • Major factors: • Structural and policy reforms • Globalisation • Technological, notably ICT, revolution • Impacts • Dwindling formal (and public) sector employment • Increasing demand for high skills • Greater competition for jobs, etc

  4. Survey of Skill Demand Patterns in Ghana • Boateng (data from 1981-2004) • Advertised vacancies

  5. Some demographic statistics • 60% of Ghana’s pop is under 25 years • About 40% of those below 6 years are illiterate • 50% of junior HS leavers fail to progress to senior HS • Less than 10% of SHS progress to tertiary level • Access to ICT less than 2 hours per semester for tertiary students • Ghana’s Networked Readiness Index ranking 74/102 with score=3.06, compared with US=5.50, S.Africa=3.72, Nigeria=2.92

  6. Youth employment and ICT skills in Ghana % Youth Jobs requiring ICT skills

  7. Other observations Increasing % of jobs require IT skills (61% in 2002) Increasing % of jobs require Comm skills (33% in 2002) Youth jobs have higher ICT requirements than overall population ICT demand differ (high in NGO/inter org; low in forestry, agric.; high in management, professional, secretarial jobs and low in technical jobs

  8. Issues emerging from findings • Equal opportunity for employment, where ICT infrastructure is unevenly distributed • Hence infrastructure must expand as part of broadening social development • Employment • Higher employer search cost • Higher on-the-job training • Low skill jobs

  9. National Initiatives in ICT • ICT4AD adopted in 2004 • Installation of computers in educational (tertiary, secondary) insts. • Greater part of effort by private institutions, bilateral agencies, World Bank

  10. ICT4AD in Ghana • To make Ghana IKE (information & knowledge-based economy) • One of the 11 key strategies is to modernise the entire educational system using ICT • 14 pillars of the policy- one is deployment of ICTs in education • Basic training in all schools/colleges for all students, including physically challenged • Linkage with business

  11. Employment Opportunities in ICT4AD • Deployment of ICT in education, public service, business, community • ICT trainers • ICT infrastructure development • IT industry and services • Productivity & income growth

  12. Conclusions and Recommendations • Employment for youth requires ICT • Physical and training infrastructure required and must be coordinated in educational institutions • Training in ICT entrepreneurship for youth one key • Member states to promote African youth IS network

  13. Thank you

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