CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
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Zambia |
ECONOMY
The growing social crisis of high unemployment levels on the labour market, has given rise to the concept of self-reliance in the informal sector, in order to mitigate the escalating poverty, estimated at 80% of the country’s 10.3 million population
In Zambia, the main problem is that of school dropouts who are left to roam the streets at the end of their primary and secondary school education. A large number of those who cannot afford to further their formal education, have found themselves in the informal sector, engaged in various income-generating activities so as to meet their daily needs.
Speaking at a media sensitisation Workshop at Ibis Gardens, Chisamba, near Lusaka, Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training Authority (TEVETA) Director-General, Dr. Patrick Nkanza, told Lusaka-based journalists that following the decline in the economy in recent years, the labour market is characterised by an increase in the number of people finding employment in the informal sector. He said: «Over 70% of the active labour force is engaged in informal sector activities, while the growth in the development of the formal sector employment has declined, and may continue to decline over the next few years».
Noting that the informal sector provides the largest base for human development in Zambia, Nkanza informed participants that the Zambian Government, in the recent past, has initiated major reforms to incorporate the increasing number of the population living off and by informal sector activities.
New policy
The new policy to cater for the informal sector in Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training (TEVET), came into existence in 1998. Previous to this, the Government had paid more attention to the formal sector in providing technical education, especially as far as secondary school leavers were concerned.
The new broadened TEVET policy as it is known, operates under three aspects.
«More important», explained Nkanza, «the new policy also focuses on the concept of equity, on providing equal opportunities to all Zambia’s citizens, irrespective of race, tribe, gender, location and financial circumstances. Priority is also given to those living in the rural areas, so that they can receive the same training opportunities as people living in the urban centres. The concept of equity in providing training, will enable labour potential to be maximised within the country».
Challenges
Nkanza noted that the important challenge faced by TEVET, is how to adequately prepare Zambia’s citizens for the ever-changing world. This is a completely different way of thinking from the earlier perception that technical education and vocational training was the monopoly of the formal education system.
The fact is — 70% of the active labour force is engaged in informal sector activities, but most technical education and vocational training is aimed at employment in the formal sector. Also, the informal sector is characterised by a high participation of young people and women, most of whom don’t have the educational requirements that would qualify them for the limited number of places, currently offered by the present-day technical education and vocational training system.
In her presentation on «Entrepreneurship and Informal Sector Development», the TEVETA‘s Manager for Quality Assurance, Mrs Alice Kombe, told journalists that Zambia’s informal sector is, at the moment, a predominately urban phenomenon, with approximately 75% of informal sector operators found in the urban areas. She said: «Trading seems to be the most dominant activity. Manufacturing is also a significant activity, while a small number of people are working in the service industry».
It’s clear the authorities cannot afford to ignore the country’s informal sector.