Zambia govt targets job creation to end poverty – StarAfrica

Zambian Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda has said job creation is one of the answers to end the high level of poverty among the population, particularly the youth and women.
Speaking while opening a high level meeting for a research think tank on Thursday, Chikwanda regretted that the high level of poverty in the country had contributed to economic stagnation.

He said the government’s target was to create at least 200,000 jobs by 2016 which would help stimulate the economy in sectors that were considered non-productive such as agriculture and tourism.

He said the increasing numbers of young people released on the streets each year was a threat to social security because unemployed youth were at time forced to turn to crime as a survival method.

Chikwanda said the government would support skills training programmes in which young people would be taught various skills that would enable them to start business enterprises and rather than look for employment they would also become employers themselves.

More than 50 percent of Zambia’s population is under the age of 50 which creates a high demand for employment in both the formal and informal sectors.