- Tanzania hosts World Bank Group Human Capital Project (HCP)
- President Samia announces national efforts to increase youth employment
- Africa suffers the lowest learning poverty in the world
It is now three years since the World Bank Group launched the Human Capital Project (HCP) in 2018, and Tanzania is making the best of the initiative.
Let’s first look at the World Bank Group’s intentions under the Human Capital Project (HCP) and then see how Tanzania intends to lead the rest of Africa in the implementation of the project. The HCP is a global effort to “accelerate more and better investments in people for greater equity and economic growth.”
The HCP is an initiative by the World Bank to help countries increase employment and employability of their workforce.
Since its launch in 2018, the initiative now has some 87 members. On July 25, Tanzania hosted the launch of the Africa Heads of State Human Capital Summit (HCS) in Dar es Salaam.
The launch was hosted by Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who called on fellow African leaders to accelerate investments in skills development. This is one of the core goals under the World Bank’s HCP.
Overlapping crises
“As our countries struggle to weather the unprecedented impacts of overlapping crises over the last few years from the COVID-19 pandemic and now the rising inflation, competing fiscal priorities, and tight budgets, it is possible to get consumed by agendas focused on immediate relief from these crises and lose sight of important investments needed for our human capital which is our greatest asset,” President Samia told fellow State Leaders who gathered in Dar es Salaam.
“I call upon fellow African leaders not to lift the pedal off these critical interventions. Our people are key to unlocking their aspirations and the continent’s economic potential,” she appealed to the Heads of State.
The HCP was launched under the theme; “Accelerating Africa’s Economic Growth: Boosting Youth Productivity by Improving Learning and Skills.”
As it was, the two-day event brought together leaders from across the continent to draw tangible financial and policy commitments that prioritize investment in human capital.
The overall goal of the HCP is to link investments in human capital to economic growth on one hand. On the other hand, the HCP looks to make the best of existing demographic dividend, by addressing learning poverty and the skills gap for youth and women.
Also Read: World Bank tips on Tanzania’s economic success
Where Africa Stands in Human Capital
At of the start of the decade, Africa had a deficit in human capital compared with other continents. Africa is reported to have the lowest average Human Capital Index (HCI) compared to other regions.
Covid-19, rising inflation, and the war in Ukraine are further restricting the potential of human capital in Africa. Now, recovery of human development loss must be a conscious and comprehensive strategy.
The summit includes technical workshops that will help discuss challenges and bottlenecks to human capital accumulation.
“These workshops will be led by country Human Capital Focal Points. The outcomes of country-level workshops will be used to inform high-level Heads of State summit interventions,” explained Victoria Kwakwa, the World Bank Regional Vice President for Eastern and Southern Africa.
“Timely investments in the education and health of its population can increase productivity, spur job creation to create a demographic dividend, and unlock the enormous economic potential of the region,” she said.
Gender equality in employment
Human capital is vital because by 2050, Africa will likely double its population to 2.2 billion. And the continent must prepare to have a population that is ready for work.
Then there is the issue of gender equality in employment which is of paramount consideration in the HCP. Women’s empowerment is a cross-cutting theme. It is an important foundation for achieving the overall economic well-being of any country.
Ousmane Diagana, the World Bank Regional Vice President for Western and Central Africa commented; “Investing in women, children, and adolescents to ensure equitable and affordable care carries transformative potential to unlock higher lifetime opportunities, support inclusive growth and advance their rights.”
“It is time to change the narrative on human capital from being mere expenditures to productive investments that are high GDP contributors,” she said.
In her example, one extra year of education correlates with 10 per cent higher household income. For a country, one extra year on average translates overall to 2.5 per cent higher GDP per capita. This is a huge consideration for African countries looking to grow their economies.
Tanzania’s youth employment project
Tanzania has announced a comprehensive long-term youth employment initiative. This is part of its commitment to the HCP and in line with the World Bank’s human capital plan.
Zanzibar President, who closed the HCP summit in Dar es Salaam, said the country is implementing the declaration. President Mwinyi urged for a common continent-wide vision to increase the pace of African economic growth. He is also urging for increased productivity of youth through better education and skills development.
“It is our responsibility as Africans to use this generation (youth) to plan our future by ensuring that the youth population in our countries is beneficial to us instead of being a burden,” Dr. Mwinyi urged.
Skills development
In this regard, Tanzania has launched its third five-year development plan with a focus on enhancing youth employment. The plan will cut unemployment from nine per cent in 2019 to eight per cent by 2025.
The plan is focused on skills development, which is in line with the World Bank HCP proposal to increase youth employability.
Skills development program will be conducted by the country’s existing vocational training institutes. Along with that, Tanzania will implement an on-the-job training program for graduates.
The on-the-job training will involve a partnership with the private sector. It aims at accommodating graduates to train in real-life scenarios of their selected jobs.
Tanzania hopes that the program will increase the number of graduates with apprenticeship training to 231,000 by 2025. Statistics show that Tanzania had 46,000 graduates with apprenticeship skills in 2019.
