Kenya’s youthful population should be seen as a chance for growth rather than a burden, Labour and Skills Development Principal Secretary Shadrack Mwadime has said.
Speaking during an interview on Radio Generation on Friday, Mwadime said past governments failed to plan adequately for the country’s demographic reality despite earlier projections warning of a youth surge.
“The projections given are that we are going to have a youth belt, but I think the previous administrations did not plan well as to how we’re going to handle this situation,” he said.
He noted that the Kibaki government made an attempt through Vision 2030, particularly the social pillar, but the administrations that followed did not put in place strong measures to deal with unemployment.
“The reality is we’re going to have a youthful population for a long period of time to come,” the PS said, adding that 75 percent of Kenyans are below 35 years.
According to Mwadime, this age group is now forming families, which means the youth bulge will persist for generations.
“In my projection, even in the next 100 years or so, we will still have a very youthful population in Kenya and in Africa as a whole,” he said.
The PS, however, urged that the situation should not be seen only as a challenge, but also as a great opportunity.
He explained that Africa’s young people can form a ready market if countries strengthen intra-African trade.
“We can also look at it as an opportunity that we can exploit for the good of the African continent. Because, number one, when it comes to trade, if we go into intra-African trade and produce goods and services within the continent, we have already market within Africa,” he said.
Mwadime pointed out that young people are both consumers and potential producers.
He said the task for governments is to build their capacity, provide sufficient capital and help them make use of Africa’s vast resources.
“Young people are actually the market, the customers who will procure these goods and services. So the way I see it, it’s still an advantage for Africa,” Mwadime pointed out.
The PS added that the government is working to put in place measures that will ensure Kenya taps into this demographic strength to drive long-term economic expansion.
“Exploit the resources, produce goods, sell within the continent. The African economy will expand in an exponential way,” he said
