Solution To Zambias Unemployment

Edwin M Hatembo Junior

Dear Editor,
As a concerned PF youth and supporter, I have felt the deep need to make a contribution through a valuable article on my views with regard to the pertinent issue in the country that boarders on job creation. In this publication, I put faith in small and medium enterprises to create millions of jobs Zambia needs- with crucial help from the government.
Mr Editor Sir/ Madam, if there is one thing which I believe all Zambians agree on, it is that the creation of jobs as the foremost challenge facing our country today. It is critical not only for the achievement of a better life for all our people – employment is central even to the notion of human dignity; equality and justice as well as it were even to our government, “putting more money in our pockets.” Unemployment stands in the way of our efforts to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality. It undermines the achievement of sustainable economic growth, and erodes social cohesion. Though unemployment may not be the cause of all our social ills, it severely hampers our ability to effectively address them.
But, while there may be consensus on the need to create jobs, there is less agreement on how we should go about doing so. This is not necessarily a bad thing though. We pride ourselves on the diversity of views in our society, and our ability to engage in vigorous debate. But we also pride ourselves on our capacity, through this engagement, to find common ground and achieve outcomes that serve the interests of all our people.
Just as we were successful in working together to define the values, principles and form of our democratic constitutional order, so too do we need to work together to determine how we can most effectively create jobs, and do so in a sustainable manner. This task stands at the centre of the Patriotic Front Government Manifesto, which was produced in 2011 as a basis for a nationwide engagement on Zambia’s development programme for the next 5 years. It envisages the creation of the much needed jobs and a reduction in levels of unemployment. These are ambitious targets, and will not be realised unless all Zambians work together in a coordinated manner to implement bold and innovative measures irrespective of our party, social and religious affiliation. As a country, we have had enough of the debate and that is important, but “action” is critical.
In this, the” government”,” business” and” labour” all need to play a role. The government needs to strengthen the works programme as it remains an important poverty-alleviation measure that provides skills and work experience to the unemployed. There should be a scope to further expand this intervention, although it has inherent limitations. What the unemployed need are permanent, sustainable jobs. We need to agree on mechanisms for encouraging greater labour absorption by the private sector. These should include a wage subsidy for companies that employ young entrants into the labour market. It is necessary to ensure that it does not undermine the wages and working conditions of existing employees and does not lead to their displacement.
We need to make our economy more competitive. Zambian companies have to compete with foreign companies in both the domestic and export markets. To make our companies successful, there is need to reduce their costs of doing business. They must increase the value products and services they produce. We should focus on developing those sectors in which we have a comparative advantage, and which are capable of creating more jobs.
A contentious issue that we need to confront is the” cost” of labour. We face the difficult task of improving our global competitiveness while protecting the gains that workers have achieved over years. In a country with such extreme income inequality, it is difficult to argue that workers must constrain their wage expectations. At minimum, any effort to moderate wage increases needs to begin with the highest earners in Zambia, while safeguarding middle and low earners.
A critical component of any effort to moderate wage growth is a concerted programme to reduce the cost of living. The PF government needs to look at how to reduce the burden on the poor in particular. The reduction of energy, transport, food and other basic costs will go a long way to reducing wage inflation.
At the same time, we need to reduce other business costs including energy, transport and telecommunications as well as costs related to unnecessary regulatory compliance. Many of these efforts are already under way. Some progress – on the regulatory front, for example – could be achieved relatively speedily. Other efforts, however, require a long-term investment in infrastructure, not only in Zambia, but in Southern Africa as well.
The most pressing task, of finding employment for a largely low-skilled population, must not undermine our longer-term goal of cultivating a working population with the skills needed to thrive in a rapidly changing, modern, global economy.
For this reason, we need to place at the heart of our job-creation efforts the achievement of quality education for all. Despite significant improvements in access to education and an increased education budget, Zambia is lagging behind to comparable countries on most educational indicators. This is arguably the single greatest constraint to the creation of jobs and eradication of poverty.
We need a bold, focused and concerted effort to fix the problems in our education system – to address issues of management, school leadership, teacher competence, the teaching culture, the learning environment and the role of parents.
As we work to address all these challenges, we need to acknowledge that the government, parastatals and large companies will not create most new jobs. Jobs will be created by small and medium businesses. As a society we need, therefore, to reconsider the role and place of small and medium businesses within the economic life of our country.
For too long we have tended to view large corporations as the central drivers of economic growth. We have viewed corporate jobs, professional careers and public-service positions as the surest routes for personal advancement. Among countries at a similar stage of economic development, Zambia’s levels of entrepreneurial activity are significantly low. This needs to change. We need to recognise the great opportunities that entrepreneurship presents, not only for individuals, but for society as a whole.
By concentrating our efforts on job creation, by each of us taking responsibility to contribute in whatever way we can to alleviating this problem, and by acting together in a common purpose, we will be able to ensure that all Zambians can enjoy the dignity, fulfilment and opportunity that come with work. Our resolve to create jobs should be executed with a determination and speed akin to how one would save another person from a burning building.
In most countries, small businesses create more jobs than any other sector. We need to significantly improve our efforts to support and facilitate the growth of small and medium enterprises. The PF government has to recognise many of the shortcomings in its efforts to date, and should work to enhance both its financial and technical support to small and medium enterprises. But the development of this sector will require more than that. There needs to be far greater collaboration between the government, the private sector and financial institutions in supporting SMEs. There is need to engage with a new approach to the incubator concept. This is eminently achievable. There are several examples across the world, and even some in Zambia, of approaches to SME financing that have been able to account for increased risk and lack of collateral. These need to be multiplied.
The government has a direct role to play in reducing the regulatory burden on SMEs. Many small businesses cite the cost of compliance with business and labour regulations as a key hindrance to their growth. Other countries have demonstrated that it is possible to significantly reduce these costs and make the regulatory requirements less onerous without completely exempting small businesses from necessary regulations.
Both the government and the private sector have a role to play in improving market access for SMEs. Many struggle to get contracts from the government and corporations, who tend to prefer larger, established businesses. By simply relooking at their supply chains and their procurement criteria, the government and the corporate sector could make a significant contribution to the development of SMEs, and especially locally-owned SMEs.
Zambia is defined as a middle-income country. Yet most of its people live in conditions typical of a low-income country. This suggests that our greatest problem is not that we do not have enough money, but that we have not found effective, sustainable and just ways of distributing it.
By concentrating our efforts on job creation, let’s put aside our political differences, give the due support to the president and his government. Each of us should take responsibility to contribute in whatever way we can, to alleviating this problem, and by acting together in a common purpose, we will be able to ensure that all Zambians can enjoy the dignity, fulfilment and opportunity that come with work. Our resolve to create jobs should be executed with a determination and speed and this alone can help PF retain the people’s mandate, come 2016 .

Posted by Admin on February 22, 2013. Filed under Forum, LATEST NEWS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

18 Responses to Solution To Zambias Unemployment

wiza Reply

February 22, 2013 at 1:09 pm

wow, a true and well written article! If only our leaders could read and follow this kind of advice!
- Brilliant Reply
  
  February 22, 2013 at 1:28 pm
  
  What advice?? You mean an advice from the Pama Fi (PF) to the Pama Fi (PF) for the Pama Fi (PF)?
  - wiza Reply
    
    February 23, 2013 at 12:08 pm
    
    @ Brilliant, the fact that this article begins by the writer stating that he is a PF supporter should not derail the key points of the article. If you have issues with the Government that is your own Ndaba (PROBLEM) but the fact of the matter is that our leaders should heed to such information. Zambians like condemning everything, i challenge you to write an article worth reading, you just condemn without providing solutions and that is what is making Zambia so backward ( What is it, that you are bringing to the party? If you commenting just for the sake of commenting then you should not. Another thing i would like to comment on is the fact that many good things happening in the country are being credited to the MMD and not PF, true, many projects were started by the previous government, My question to you ZANBIANS IS THAT SHOULD THE PF GOVERNMENT STOP ALL PROJECTS AND START THEIR OWN PROJECTS? PLEASE, ZAMBIANS SHOULD KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STATE AND GOVERNMENT. LET ME EDUCATE YOU SINCE SOME PEOPLE LACK THE BASICS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE:
    1.The State is more or less permanent and continues from time immemorial. But the government is temporary. It changes frequently.
    2.A government may come and go, but the State continues for ever. Death of a ruler or the overthrow of a government in general elections does not mean the change of the State. If the PF Government replaces the MMD Government, it involves no fundamental changes in the structure of the State of ZAMBIA.
    
    My advice to you Zambians is to think before you condemn. I am NOT trying to start a war of insults as this is the order of bloggers! PEACE
Brilliant Reply

February 22, 2013 at 1:27 pm

Very useless article I have ever read since I was born. The only articles or rather staments that comes next to this one in terms of being useless are those made by Kennedy “Sekani” bad breath, the so valled master of misinformation!! Can a sane person continue to even dream of this UKWA led government to even go beyond 2016? Unless you are really myopic and mad!!!
popo Reply

February 22, 2013 at 1:45 pm

Useless Idoits
popo Reply

February 22, 2013 at 1:46 pm

Or sorry useful Idiots.
Umupandapwiti Reply

February 22, 2013 at 2:39 pm

A man, whose level of drunkenness was bordering on the absurd, stood up to leave a bar and fell flat on his face.

“Maybe all I need is some fresh air,” thought the man as he crawled outside.

He tried to stand up again but fell face first into the mud.

“Screw it,” he thought. “I’ll just crawl home.”

The next morning, his wife found him on the doorstep asleep.

“You went out drinking last night, didn’t you?” she said.

“Uh, yes,” he said sheepishly. “How did you know?”

“You left your wheelchair at the bar again.”
UPND Reply

February 22, 2013 at 3:00 pm

This is a good article and contribution to development of this country hope the pf will be able to learn from their supporters….
Monde Reply

February 22, 2013 at 3:10 pm

viva pf 2016 with the upcoming youth!
Edwin Reply

February 22, 2013 at 3:15 pm

Thanks tumfweko for adding this article online hope it brings change to our Mother Zambia!!!
J K Reply

February 22, 2013 at 4:07 pm

Very nice artcle.These are the people we need in order to have a good government.Bring another artcle next time so that these pipo in power can work had.I JUST WANT TO KNOW AS TO WHEN OUR UNION IS GOING TO NEGOTIATE FOR OUR SALARY INCREMENT (HEALTH WORKERS (NURSES)) FOR 2013. WE ALSO NEED AN INCLUSION OF RISK ALLOWANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
J K KUMAWA
Truth2 Reply

February 22, 2013 at 4:52 pm

Job creation is not only for the government.I think the concept of this article is about combined efforts in creating JObs.But the problem in Zambia is we all look forward to being employed instead of employing.For example,how many engineers have come up with construction firms where they have employed atleast 10 people on permanent basis?The answer is very few.The point in this article is let us come up with small enterprises those with the capacity to do this and let the gorvernment come in with the incentives just like those given to foreign investors such as tax exemptions for the firts 5years in operations and come up a policy that will compel financial institution both micro and macro lenders to expand the market to small scale enterprises instead of concetrating on people in formal employment only.All in all,it has to start with us the general citzens,its high time we started implementing our university/college education into practical projects that can help in employing the less privedged with the gorvernment help,we can reach far in the coming few years.
Samson Reply

February 22, 2013 at 5:02 pm

This article is indeed a mouthful and delineates a practical sense to the problem of unemployment. I wish, the political office bearers would have much, but a chance to review these policy direction towards unemployment. Once again, its a great article
khuly Reply

February 22, 2013 at 11:24 pm

great work youngman especially coming from someone who is fresg from skool and will be needing a job soon. you really have a point though more jobs hve to be created so as to empower our people
mutibo Reply

February 22, 2013 at 11:41 pm

well written article Eddy,i wish our leaders would embrace such brilliant ideas so as to create enough employment opportunities.
wiza Reply

February 23, 2013 at 7:09 am

@ Brilliant, the fact that this article begins by the writer stating that he is a PF supporter should not derail the key points of the article. If you have issues with the Government that is your own Ndaba (PROBLEM) but the fact of the matter is that our leaders should heed to such information. Zambians like condemning everything, i challenge you to write an article worth reading, you just condemn without providing solutions and that is what is making Zambia so backward ( What is it, that you are bringing to the party? If you commenting just for the sake of commenting then you should not. Another thing i would like to comment on is the fact that many good things happening in the country are being credited to the MMD and not PF, true, many projects were started by the previous government, My question to you ZANBIANS IS THAT SHOULD THE PF GOVERNMENT STOP ALL PROJECTS AND START THEIR OWN PROJECTS? PLEASE, ZAMBIANS SHOULD KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STATE AND GOVERNMENT. LET ME EDUCATE YOU SINCE SOME PEOPLE LACK THE BASICS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE:
1.The State is more or less permanent and continues from time immemorial. But the government is temporary. It changes frequently.
2.A government may come and go, but the State continues for ever. Death of a ruler or the overthrow of a government in general elections does not mean the change of the State. If the PF Government replaces the MMD Government, it involves no fundamental changes in the structure of the State of ZAMBIA.

My advice to you Zambians is to think before you condemn. I am NOT trying to start a war of insults as this is the order of bloggers! PEACE
DIGGERS Reply

February 23, 2013 at 2:49 pm

Well writtern article.
kabwe mulembwe Reply

February 23, 2013 at 8:26 pm

The article is well written and researched. Allow me to add a few things in line with job creation in our beloved country. I believe that we all know countries that have prospered such as the US, China, Germany, Japan etc. The first step is to study different types of models that the countries who walked to prosperity followed. We may not copy what others did but we may borrow ideas and combine them to make a solid model as a roadmap towards prosperity. Germany is the biggest economy in Europe and its ways of doing things may not be bad to emulate. For Germany when students are in senior secondary school, they do vocational training or job on training in the industry. this prepares young minds into prospective careers and seals the gap of trade skills required in the industry. those that meet certain requirement proceed to university and embank on specialized disciplines, those who do not still remain useful to the country as they gain proficiency in their respective trainings. others attend technically colleges to be able to get vocation trainings, this means at all levels, the country is able to have the human resource they need, no one is completely left out, no. The other thing in Germany unlike many countries is that top management of corporations do not come from business or legal schools, that top leadership is a preserve of those who show enthusiasm and capability. This encourages people to pursue technical courses without thinking they will never rise to top positions if they put in the best. In Zambia its an open secret that lawyers or advocates receive Non private practice allowance while engineers and other professionals do not. The question is, are we determined to encourage people taking up other careers other than law or medicine? If a lawyer gets Non Private Practice allowance, why does’nt the engineer get the same, does it mean some professions are more superior? Coming back to the lessons to learn from this it may be important to balance the scale, the careers which require license to practice need to be treated the same without making others feel insecure or put off. Then every one will do a course of their choice without looking at monetary gains. Top positions should also not be a preserve of business or finance graduates, it should be based on perfomance, unless technically inclined institutions. China has used this model and it has worked, am sure it can work for us too. Educational curriculum too need to improve, in the end we can achieve a balanced middle income society and combat poverty. Finally we need to support our leadership and give them good proposals and not fight them coz now is time to develop our country not fight or insult. May God bless Zambia