28th September, 2018
President Muhammadu Buhari has called on Africa to explore the opportunities which demographic dividend offered to promote poverty eradication and global sustainability.
The President made the call at the High-Level Event on “Investing in Youth Jobs in Africa,” which was hosted by Prime Ministers Theresa May of the United Kingdom and Justin Trudeau of Canada.
The meeting was on the sideline of the ongoing 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The President said that population dynamics had shown that more efforts were required to confront the challenges related to changing global demographic patterns.
He added that while some countries experience the reality of ageing population, Africa’s challenge remained a youth bulge.
He therefore called on Africa to continue to exploit these opportunities to create jobs that would be economically productive and absorptive of the skilled youth.
The President also called on African governments to foster peaceful democratic environments and institute conflict resolution mechanisms to prevent violent conflicts and the adverse consequences.
He said national governments and the private sector should promote gender-neutral hiring practices to benefit the growing number of female applicants seeking participation in the work force.
The President said that he had already put in place measure as part of Nigeria’s commitment to the domestication of the AU Roadmap on harnessing demographic dividend through investment in youth.
He said that a Multi-stakeholders Committee would be inaugurated soon to develop a national roadmap for harnessing the potentials of Nigeria’s youthful population.
According to him, the national roadmap is anchored on four key pillars: Employment and Entrepreneurship; Education and Skills Development; Health and Well-being; and Rights, Governance and Youth Empowerment.
He said that the event was organised at a time when the focus of Africa was on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the African Agenda 2063
He added that both were aimed at addressing the daunting contemporary challenges, particularly as they affect the youth.