The Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountant – ZICA has warned that if no practical policy actions are taken to tackle the high unemployment levels in the country, the situation will negate the good efforts of providing free education and high quality education to end up producing graduates that will find themselves on the streets and cannot start businesses due to the sticky lending rates and lack of start-up capital.
ZICA President Cecilia Zimba said Government still has a greater role to play when it comes to matters of job creation and therefore should be concerned with the rate at which unemployment is rising in the country.
Zimba said a picture presented in the outcome of the recent recruitment processes is undoubtedly evident that Zambia is faced with a ‘time bomb’ of high unemployment.
She said the evidence available suggests that there is no co-ordination and balance between the education sector (licensing of private colleges/universities), their enrolment practices and the jobs available in the economy.
“There has been a notable over-enrolment in most of the colleges/universities for most of the professions in contrast to what the industry can absorb in terms of job vacancies. We, therefore, implore on government to seriously consider a system of tracking and reporting the jobs in the economy so that skills development is in sync with job demand.” She said.
Zimba Explained that Zambia needs to put in place measures to capture employment data on a timely basis and report periodically in the same manner inflation and policy rates are reported. Employment should be regarded as a key economic variable with a measurable target like GDP, inflation and exchange rate among others.
She warned that if this matter is not addressed urgently, the high unemployment can result in significant economic costs, including lost output, decreased consumer spending, reduced tax revenue, and increased government spending.
Other challenges that may arise from this are reduced investment, lower labour force participation, and increased poverty which may negate everything that government intends to achieve under the economic recovery plan.
