By Chinoyi Chipulu
Vice-President Mutale Nalumango has called for stronger collaboration between higher learning institutions and industries to align education with labour sector demands as a tool to tackle unemployment.
And minister of Labour and Social Security, Brenda Tambatamba, has called for concerted efforts among African Regional Labour Administration Centre (ARLAC) governing council member states in tackling informality.
Speaking in Lusaka at the 51st ARLAC Ministerial High-Level symposium on innovative approaches to tackling informality and promoting transitions towards formality to promote Decent Work yesterday, Nalumango said ARLAC member states should adopt innovative strategies that bridge the gap between education and industry demands to reduce informality in the labour market.
She said across ARLAC state countries, 35 to 45 percent of employers’ report difficulties in finding workers with the skills needed for their industries. Nalumango said there was need to adopt innovative strategies that bridge the gap between education and industry demands to reduce informality in the labour market.
“These skills mismatch hamper productivity and economic growth. The young people go into university, come back without a job. So we are saying, unemployment up to 25 percent, but the workplace doesn’t have the right skill,” Nalumango said. “I think it goes that indeed we might be signing a memorandum but what it means is there must be collaboration between training institutions and workplaces. Otherwise we are training ourselves in a vacuum. You know what the economy is demanding then you are busy training wrong people.”
Nalumango observed that the ARLAC region faced shared labour market challenges that demanded coordinated action. She said youth unemployment in the region ranged between 18 and 25 percent, with many young people struggling to transition from education to productive employment, a situation she said risked exacerbating social inequalities and instability.
“I met with a minister from Botswana who said, ‘after school the graduate goes back home, the brave ones are the ones that go back to the street to try and survive’. Basically joining the informal sector without regulations. We have a duty to work on how to create decent jobs for the youths,” she said, adding that strengthening education systems and industrial capacity was key to transitioning workers from informality to formality.
Nalumango said many workers in the informal sector lacked access to social protection, fair wages and safe working conditions. She said the symposium was held at a critical moment when the world was grappling with social economic changes that demanded innovative and inclusive approaches.
“Here in Zambia, Cabinet approved the introduction of a bill in Parliament to undertake reforms largely in the public pensions scheme. We therefore expect improved pension schemes when the law is amended,” said Nalumango.
And Tambatamba said failure to address informality would result in low productivity, tax evasion, labour exploitation and an uneven playing field. She said the labour market was flooded with workers in the informal economy which was outside labour administration programs.
Tambatamba said there was, therefore, need for collaboration and innovation in tackling informality in order to make a positive change on the governance structure across Africa.
International Labour Organization (ILO) country director for Zimbabwe and Namibia, Philile Masuku urged member states to propose innovative concepts that will address informality.
And ILO resource person, Ann Marie, said there was need to extend social protection to persons in the informal sector to achieve formalisation.
The 51st ARLAC meeting opened in Lusaka on February 10 to February 14, 2024, comprising over 18 member states to deliberate on innovative approaches to tackling informality and promoting transitions towards formality.
