The Minister of Technology and Science, Hon. Felix Mutati has called the mining sector to support young people’s employability and job competitiveness by supporting them during the WorldSkills Africa (WSA) competition.
And the Minister said preparations to host the inaugural WSA Competition next year advances.
Speaking the business breakfast hosted by Zambia National Commercial Bank (ZANACO) at this year’s Copperbelt Agricultural Mining Industrial Networking Enterprise (CAMINEX), Mr. Mutati said hosting the continental skills competition was vital to the development of relevant skills for job and wealth creation.
He said the Government was committed to deliver a memorable skills competition to inspire the youth toward skills excellence.
“I am urging the private sector, especially players in the mining sector to support the successful hosting of the WorldSkills Africa competition in Livingstone. It is our collective responsibility to ensure youths acquire relevant skills to effectively apply themselves as entrepreneurs or in the industry. We need the right skills for competitiveness.”
Highlighting the progress made towards the hosting of the WSA 2025, Mr. Mutati urged mining industry players to support the continental competition as a way of giving an opportunity to youths to sharpen their skills ahead of many opportunities in their lives. “We need to offer the youths a chance to sharpen their skills through this competition in line with the 21st century skills needs and our national aspirations.
WSA is one of the initiatives in developing relevant skills for job and wealth creation. The platform raises the profile and recognition of skilled people and inspires young people to pursue careers in various trades and occupations for better employability and competitiveness. It is also a vital enabler for building capacity for education and skills development.
With the more than 60-70% of the Zambian population being youths, the continent is leveraging the youthful population demographic dividend by up-skilling these young people for employability and entrepreneurship in line with the African Union Agenda 2063.
At national level, WorldSkills Africa Competition next year is of great benefit to achieving the Vision 2030 ambitions because it provides the necessary platform for the revitalisation and improvement in education and skills.