Employment not yet satisfactory in Tanzania

Employment not yet satisfactory in Tanzania
September 21, 2011
By Deogratius Kilawe and Elias Mhegera
A recent report by the International Labour Organization has revealed that there is a wide gap between unemployed people and opportunities for them in the job market globally.
The report indicates that up to 2010 a number of unemployed people were 205 millions, while in 2007 the number of unemployed people was 27.6millions according to this report so far 6.2 percent of the world population goes without employment.
In Tanzania the 2006 Labor Force Survey indicated that 11.7 percent of people had no employment so far there is no recent survey to elucidate on the problem although there are indications that this number has increased.

In that year, 2006; a number of unemployed people were 2,194,392 this number may vary according to the set standards and subsequently the definition of what constitute of an employment.
The reality in this country is that more that 800,000, people flows in the labour market yearly while the ability to absorb them is 40 percent and mainly those with proper qualifications from educational and vocational institutions.
Moreover the ILO report of 2011 indicates that in the Sub-Saharan Africa 5.5 percent of the population goes without employment with the following variations of 8.9 females and 7.6 males. Out of those the youths constitute 12.9 percent as opposed to the adult population of 6.7 percent.

In Kenya the percentage of unemployed people was 12.7 percent in 2009, this increased to 40 percent in 2010. However the Kenyan Government has set aside USD 380 millions for job creation in its last financial budget.
In order to curb the problem of unemployment in Tanzania various mechanisms have been introduced. For instance the Youth Entrepreneurship Facility (YEF), Tanzania gate away development, and many others have been advising the youths to transform their mindsets and lean towards entrepreneurship, rather than waiting for formal employment which they do not necessary get in time.
In this bid the Tanzania Gate Away has helped many youths after assisting them in writing plans and providing entrepreneurial skills, this in a way has brought relief to the beneficiaries of such schemes.