Government And The Private Sector Need To Invest In Young People – Mwamba

Zambia’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union, Emmanuel Mwamba, has said that Zambia is full of entrepreneurial youths who are ready to develop the country but lack the capital, technical support and mentorship to do so. 

Addressing the first Zambia Virtual Youth Summit organised by the Anakazi Centre for Women Empowerment and Development, Mwamba said that he was sure that the youth of Zambia were prepared to create a developed country. He added that, without the support of external stakeholders, the government would not be able to help young entrepreneurs. 

Commenting on the high levels of youth unemployment in the country, with current rates at around 21%, Mwamba recognised that the government were clearly not able to provide employment for all young Zambians. Instead, he insisted that if the government supported entrepreneurship within the country, unemployment may be a thing of the past. 

The government have been seen to try and support selected Zambian youths after donating 52 fuel tankers worth over K200 million in recent months. However, without teaching these youths to drive and giving them the tools to utilise these tankers effectively, questions have arisen as to the purpose of these donations, with several groups suspecting the government of bribing these youths for votes in the upcoming elections. 

An inclusive method which involves women and young people is thought by Mwamba to be especially important if Zambia is to develop. 

“No foreign country can develop our country. We have to develop it ourselves. Therefore, we must take an inclusive approach where we involve everyone, especially women and young people… We need to pay special attention to the girls so that they are not left behind in the developmental agenda of Zambia. We need more young and innovative entrepreneurial ladies who are going to help transform Zambia” said Mwamba. 

Mwamba finished in saying that young people should be able to make their own decisions and that by including them in government and company decisions, the country will see an impactful positive change.