Paul,
This is a very interesting article. The solution is in just one word, “EDUCATION.” I have seen it in East and Central Africa and West Africa, of which I am very familiar. No country has ever developed without train ... read full comment
Paul,
This is a very interesting article. The solution is in just one word, “EDUCATION.” I have seen it in East and Central Africa and West Africa, of which I am very familiar. No country has ever developed without trained manpower. Any country that carries the kinds of excess baggage that most African countries carry in terms of unemployable youth, is not going anywhere! Just look around the world, all the countries that have made strides in their socio-economic development efforts have done so by providing FREE quality education to citizens till age 18.
Take Ghana’s as an example: The JSS system churns out about 250,000 pupils every year. Out of this number, only about 25% or approximately 45,000 go on to the Senior Secondary School. That leaves about 200,000 children who are themselves unsure of what exactly they are. At age 14 or 15, most of these kids cannot be used in any meaningful economic enterprise, not even on the farms. Of the lot that manage to go on to Senior Secondary, just about another quarter or about 16,000 go on to higher education, vocational schools or disorganised apprenticeships. We have foolishly turned the old polytechnics into degree-awarding institutions, without replacing them with anything to cater for the less academically able. If a society churns over 250,000 youngsters who have little hope in hell of ever doing anything productive every year, what future does that society have?
The demographic group 10-41 makes up over 40% of Ghanaian society. That puts the picture into its right perspective.
The group of young people called “Kaya yei” or porters who streamed into Accra and Kumasi in the late 70s and early 80s now have grandchildren who have followed them into that “trade” – three generations of Kaya yei on our streets. What future is there for their children?
Selfish politicians in sub-Sahara Africa like it that way because these kids are their cannon fodder that they feed with local hard gin, kenkey, ugali or ebba, as they case may be, to go and bash their political opponents after elections.
Kojo T 10 years ago
I have the same experience, though I believe part of the equation lies in industrilisation. We need to add value to our raw materilas. Also the "leaders" need to be innovative. We import all kinds of food we can grow. So how ... read full comment
I have the same experience, though I believe part of the equation lies in industrilisation. We need to add value to our raw materilas. Also the "leaders" need to be innovative. We import all kinds of food we can grow. So how do we harnes all these "unemployables' to pick fruits, churn out clothing, grow chicken, pigs, fish,. Africa needs real entrepreneurs and access to finance . There in lies the solution to our problems . Unfortunateley we get caught up in ideological diatribes of "free enterprise' v socialism . The question is What works for Africa" . has the Marshal Plan, the Soviaet and Chinese experiments and the Roosevelt doctrine any relevance to our situation. finally big is good and bigger is better. Africa needs to UNITE
Kobena 10 years ago
Kojo T,
The Education I mentioned also includes educating ourselves to recognise our resources and the use we can put them to.
Have you ever acquired a piece of land for agricultural purposes in Ghana? It is a nightmare. ... read full comment
Kojo T,
The Education I mentioned also includes educating ourselves to recognise our resources and the use we can put them to.
Have you ever acquired a piece of land for agricultural purposes in Ghana? It is a nightmare. I tried it once on behalf of some investors. We gave up. The land tenure system in Ghana is outmoded and competely unworkable with respct to large-sacle agricuture.
Just imagine Ghana importing "Oburoni Waawu" cutlery, underwear, towels, bicycles and mopeds, etc, all items that were made locally in the 1960s and 70s. I took some of the locally made undearwear I bought in Kumasi to America and used them with my new "Fruit of the Loom" acqusitions for the two years I did MSc. there.
We lost all that because our "leaders" were so myopic, they preferred the crumbs from their cronies who imported things into Ghana, to a sustainable national industry.
It is a fact that over the past fifty years Africa has received aid worth several times the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan for Europe amounted to $500 per head. We have received about $3000 per head in aid, and what do we have to show for all that Money stolen and returned to Europe in unnumbered bank accounts. That is the bane of our underdevelopment.
Pass Mark.
Paul,
This is a very interesting article. The solution is in just one word, “EDUCATION.” I have seen it in East and Central Africa and West Africa, of which I am very familiar. No country has ever developed without train ...
read full comment
I have the same experience, though I believe part of the equation lies in industrilisation. We need to add value to our raw materilas. Also the "leaders" need to be innovative. We import all kinds of food we can grow. So how ...
read full comment
Kojo T,
The Education I mentioned also includes educating ourselves to recognise our resources and the use we can put them to.
Have you ever acquired a piece of land for agricultural purposes in Ghana? It is a nightmare. ...
read full comment