Sustainable job creation for the masses of the Jamaican population has been an ongoing challenge for successive governments since Independence. The opening of the bauxite industry was a major contributor to employment for a reasonably wide cross section of the working class. The subsequent decline in the bauxite alumina industry exacerbated the unemployment situation as has been evident in the last two decades.
Jamaica experienced an explosion in the 807 garment industry in the1975-1985 decade. However, this was very short lived given the incompatibility with collective bargaining; as a consequence that industry migrated to other LDC’s that offered less challenges, not only for labour, but equally important for costs associated with energy and security.
Successive administrations have spoken eloquently and passionately about the need for creating jobs for the various strata of the work force, but have not experienced the desired results for reasons that I would posit as being serious flaws in our education system, economic policy, energy inefficiencies and lack of a coherent security strategy.
Economic transformation, transparency and tax reform have become the new buzz words in the national conversation, however there is not likely to be much traction and tangible results if those who are the purveyors of the discourse are not viewed as credible, given their known legacy, or their motives are deeply rooted in special interests. In the event that any government was to fall for the highly varnished positions that have taken over the national dialogue without carefully examining the likely impact on serious sustainable job creation, do so at their peril.
While the narrative framing transformation, transparency and tax reform are quite plausible given the fact that we desire a better place in the community of nations relative to these issues, new governance challenges dictates that the government and civil society needs to have an unwavering commitment – that all its citizens are not only equal under the law, but are given an opportunity to have a job and create wealth.
In the context of the capitalist business class, the wealthy and “have
more” are primarily concerned with the continued reservation/success of their strata of the society, with blatant disregard for the poor, the marginalized and the “have not”. It is therefore incumbent on the government and dispassionate elected officials to ensure that economic policy, industrial policy and the tax regime are fair, equitable and have the long-term possibilities of job creation.
The well-known history of the holders of wealth in the Jamaican society is that for the most part they are risk averse in creating new businesses that will increase employment. There is no more compelling evidence than the current ownership structure of several businesses that were divested by government in financial services and manufacturing. Most, if not all of these enterprises have experienced tremendous success and has continued to generate substantial profits, and we often time hear the “sotto voce” comments from the business class that the assets were divested too liberally to foreigners.
The tourism industry has undergone very strong growth and expansion based on initiatives taken by the government in the period 1994-2006 that attracted FDI’s from Spanish investors. This not only created new employment opportunities for the qualified workforce but also has contributed in no small way to increased agricultural production and construction.
There can be no doubt that in order for the Jamaican economy to expand in a sustainable way, the country will have to create the enabling environment that will attract a greater portion of FDI’s from across the developed world. With the exception of tourism, telecommunication, and to a lesser extent energy generation, FDI flows to Jamaica has been tepid, when compared to what is available.
Appendix “A” attached to this paper has extracted relevant sections from the World Investment Report 2011 that outline the trends, scale and scope of FDI flows to LDC’s and Small Island Developing States. This compelling data highlights the fact that Jamaica has an opportunity to embark on a new and more aggressive path to achieve economic transformation and sustainable job creation from new FDI flows.
International investors undertake due diligence and rigorous analysis of a country before recommending to their shareholders injection of investments which are capital intensive. There first point of contact usual following a sequence, Lawyers, Accountants and Bankers. It is therefore an imperative that the environment is investor friendly in several critical ways viz;
- A well articulated and coherent policy framework for FDI’s accepted by the government and opposition
- A reliable and efficient legal system that allows for effective settlement of disputes.
- A tax regime that is fair, equitable and enforceable
- An efficient banking sector that offers broad base technology options coupled with international financial services linkages
- An educated and trainable workforce with an enlighten collective bargaining framework
- An efficient and hassle free commercial regulatory system that allows for timely approvals and compliance.
Jamaican has grappled with some of these issues with varying levels of success but if we are to experience a fundamental shift in investment flows, there is a lot of work to be done.
The government investment promotion and development agencies such as JAMPRO, EXIMBANK and DEVELOPMENT BANK OF JAMAICA must be far more proactive as catalysts for executing government policy to support increased FDI flows with particular emphasis on job creation.
There must be deliberate and concerted strategies to educated, grow and promoted SME’s as an engine of economic growth but also as the single most important option for sustainable job creation.
Our education system requires a new strategy that is focused on developing a highly skilled workforce, rather than just have our young people “pass through” the elementary and secondary school system which results in 17-30 year olds who are neither literate, numerate or employable. The tertiary institution requires a fundamental shift in offerings of undergraduate and graduate degrees that will be relevant in the age of technological advancement rather than being mired in our legacy of the “grammar school” philosophy.
It is now an imperative that we fix in a sustainable way the poor state of the country’s security apparatus. A society that does not effectively manage crime and violence will be kept at the margin and viewed as not ready for serious investments by the world community. Narcotics dealers, lottery scammers and those individuals who choose a life of crime must be denied the opportunity to enjoy the freedoms that our constitution provides for law-abiding citizens.
Appendix “B” attached to this paper is a publication by MSS Research which articulates very well the strategy that developing economies like Jamaica must undertake to create and sustain employment in the wider population.
APPENDIX A
EXTRACTS FROM WORLD INVESTMENT REPORT 2011
Notes from the World Bank Investment Report as reported on pages 80 to 82 of the report have been omitted.
Trends in structurally weak, vulnerable and small economies – Least developed countries (LDCs) Enhancing productive capacities through FDI
– An ambitious new plan of action for FDI in LDCs to enhance productive capacities is
urgently needed
In preparation for the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, held in Istanbul, Turkey, in May 2011, UNCTAD carried out a broad review of FDI trends in LDCs over the past decade since the Brussels Declaration and the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries (BPoA), examining the impact of FDI on their economies with a view to proposing a plan of action to enhance its effectiveness (UNCTAD, 2011b). The report focuses on the challenges LDCs face in attracting and benefiting from FDI, and on what can be done to improve the situation in the light of UNCTAD´s long-standing work on FDI in LDCs.
The study found that despite the recent setback, FDI flows to LDCs had grown at an annual rate of 15 per cent during the last decade, raising their share in global FDI flows from less than 1 per cent to over 2 per cent by 2010. Some LDCs have succeeded in diversifying the type of FDI they attract, but over 80 per cent of total FDI flows went to resource-rich economies in Africa, with a weak impact on employment generation, and inflows have stagnated or declined in some countries. In addition, LDCs as a whole still remain at the margin of global value chains, accounting for only 1 per cent of world trade flows (exports plus imports) in industrial goods. Also, the predominance of FDI in natural-resource extraction has reinforced the commodity dependence of LDCs, exacerbating their unbalanced economic structures and vulnerability to external shocks.
The geographic concentration of FDI flows has increased over the past decade, contributing to further divergence in economic performance among LDCs, and regional disparities inside countries remain acute. Most LDCs are still characterized by a dual economy in which a relatively small formal private sector coexists with a large informal segment, which includes subsistence agriculture. FDI linkages with the domestic economy have been hard to establish, and transfers of skills and know how have been limited.
Technological advances and organizational changes in the global economy and within TNCs are fundamentally altering the way goods and services are produced. Global value chains with a high degree of specialization have become the norm. TNCs are increasingly outsourcing parts of their value chains, in order to increase their efficiency and competitiveness and avail of the lowest worldwide cost options. This in turn requires new approaches and development policies for LDCs. The relevant new paradigm implies a more proactive approach to developing productive capacities, with a better balance between markets and the State, and places production and employment at the heart of policies.
UNCTAD’s plan of action for LDCs builds on the reforms and efforts that have been undertaken in recent times, but strives to present new ways of addressing old problems, taking into account the changed circumstances and the lessons of the past decade. The emphasis is on an integrated policy approach to investment, capacity-building and enterprise development. The plan calls for steps to be taken by all key stakeholders involved – governments in LDCs, development partners and home countries of TNCs – and envisages a clear role for the private sector itself. There are five key areas:
• Public – private initiatives in infrastructure.
Poor physical infrastructure constrains not just FDI, but more generally the development of productive capacities and LDCs’ ability to reap the benefits of economic globalization. Successfully addressing the problem calls for strengthened PPP initiatives for infrastructure development and a strong role for private investment.
• Aid for productive capacity.
Shortfalls in terms of skills and human capital are at least as big a constraint on development in LDCs as poor physical infrastructure. An aid-for-productive capacity programme focusing on education, training and transfer of skills is called for.
• Building on investment opportunities.
Efforts need to be redoubled to enable firms of all sizes to capture opportunities in LDCs. Large TNCs frequently bypass investment opportunities in LDCs, where markets are typically small and operating conditions are more challenging. However, LDCs offer significant untapped business opportunities for nimble and innovative investors of a more modest size, as well as potential for high returns on investment.
• Local business development and access to finance.
The presence of efficient and dynamic local businesses is particularly important for efficiency seeking foreign investors, which LDCs need to attract on a much larger scale and sustainable basis if they are to integrate into global value chains. New initiatives to support SME development and linkages with TNCs are essential.
• Regulatory and institutional reform.
LDCs need to launch the next wave of regulatory and institutional reforms to further strengthen the relevant State institutions and their implementation capacities within a partnership-based approach. While significant reforms have been carried out in LDCs in this area in the past 10 years, much remains to be done.
In these five areas of action, there are specific measures to be taken by each stakeholder. These are summarized in table II.12.
FDI inflows to small island developing States (SIDS) dropped marginally by less than 1 per cent, to $4.2 billion in 2010 (table B and figure A), following a 47 per cent decline in 2009. The largest five recipients of FDI in this special grouping of structurally weak economies were Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago (both in the Caribbean), Mauritius, Seychelles (both in East Africa) and Timor-Leste (South-East Asia), with inflows ranging between $977 million and $280 million (table A).
Geographically and culturally diverse, the 29 SIDS nevertheless share similar development challenges: small but rapidly growing populations, low availability of resources, remoteness, susceptibility to natural disasters, and a lack of economies of scale. They also face a number of difficulties in attracting FDI, such as the small size of their economies, a lack of human resources, and high transportation and communication costs. As a result, total inflows to these economies remain at a very low level, accounting for less than 1 per cent of total FDI inflows to the developing world in recent years. Despite a number of large cross-border M&A deals in industries such as mining and hotels (table II.16), FDI flows to SIDS stagnated in 2010. The $9 billion acquisition of Lihir Gold by Newcrest Mining (Australia) was not reflected in FDI inflows to Papua New Guinea in 2010, as this transaction was between foreign investors, involving a change in foreign ownership only. However, other deals by firms from developing counties may drive inflows to the country to new highs in 2011.
FDI inflows in SIDS have traditionally been concentrated in extractive industries and services, including hotels and tourism, financial services and real estate. In 2010, there were a number of greenfield investments in these industries (table II.17). The Maldives accounted for most of the large projects in hotels and tourism, as well as in other services, while Papua New Guinea hosted a major share of large mining projects. Noteworthy were two investments in manufacturing in Mauritius: one undertaken by Pick n Pay (South Africa) in the food industry, and the other by Mango (Spain) in textiles.
FDI inflows were still biased towards relatively large economies and tax havens. In 2010, 62 per cent of the grouping’s total FDI inflows targeted the top five recipients noted above (table A), and 38 per cent went into the tax havens; however the latter share might drop as TNCs move less funds to these economies in the future. In relative terms, a number of SIDS performed well in attracting FDI inflows, and resource-rich Papua New Guinea stands out as one of the winners, resulting from booming investment in its extractive industries (box II.5).
Rising greenfield investments and cross-border M&As will drive up FDI inflows to SIDS in 2011. Total investment of recorded greenfield projects had jumped by 90 per cent in the first four months of 2011, compared with the same period of 2010.
In the meantime, the value of cross-border M&A purchases rose to over $200 million. Considering the high potential of capital flows from emerging economies, FDI inflows to SIDS seem likely to increase in the years to come.
Roles of TNCs in climate change adaptation
Highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, SIDS are looking to attract TNCs and FDI projects that can contribute to adaptation efforts.
SIDS are perhaps the countries that are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. A warming of the ocean surface and a rise in sea level around these island economies have been detected, and this is expected to continue (UNFCCC, 2007). The associated adverse impacts pose a serious danger to many aspects of economic development in SIDS. For instance, the tourist industry, which the economies of SIDS particularly depend on, will be strongly affected – the shift of tourism to higher altitudes and latitudes is expected to result in a significant drop in the tourist industry in such SIDS as the Maldives (Morin, 2006).
To avoid the grave danger posed by climate change, aggressive mitigation action by the major green house gas (GHG) emitters is crucial, while SIDS themselves have an urgent need for adaptation activities. For this grouping of structurally vulnerable economies, the cost of inaction would be tremendous. The governments of SIDS are taking various initiatives to incorporate adaptation practices into their economic planning and investment activities. Key industries identified in this process are agriculture, tourism, public health and water infrastructure, while the actors involved range from individuals, governments, local communities and international organizations to the private sector and civil society (AOSIS and UNF, 2008). The SIDS have dedicated their own resources to this critical area, and are calling for action among the international community.
The private sector is a crucial actor in the fight against the negative impacts of global warming in SIDS. In particular, TNCs can play an important role. First, the participation of and optimal use of TNCs’ resources are useful in filling the financial and technological gaps for climate change adaptation in SIDS. Considerable funds are needed to implement climate change adaptation activities (including improving land and water management and introducing new agricultural production technologies) and to enhance the countries’ adaptive capacities (including improving education, information and infrastructure). Various multilateral and bilateral sources of funding are available, but they are not of the magnitude needed (AOSIS and UNF, 2008). Evidence shows that TNCs can make a significant contribution through mobilizing resources and undertaking necessary investments, but lack of data prevents a systematic assessment of the extent of the financial and technological contributions of TNCs.
Secondly, foreign affiliates have strengthened host countries’ adaptation efforts by undertaking their own adaptation activities as private sector participants, as well as indirectly through demonstration effects. In important industries such as tourism, which accounts for a large share of the economy of many SIDS, TNCs’ contribution in dealing with the economic challenges of climate change is considerable (box II.6).
Thirdly, TNC involvement can enhance the adaptive capacities of host countries by improving infrastructure. To respond successfully to the risks of economic disruption, SIDS need infrastructure systems that are modern and resilient to climate change. There are many interdependencies between the infrastructure industries, all of which are important for adaptive capacities (Royal Academy of Engineering, 2011), but for most SIDS a resilient water industry (including water storage facilities, potable and waste water treatment plants, transmission lines, local distribution systems etc.) is a priority.
A number of projects with TNC participation have contributed to infrastructure development in SIDS, helping to reduce the vulnerability of SIDS to natural disasters and the anticipated rise in sea level. For instance, Berlinwasser (Germany) invested in a water and sewerage project in Mauritius in 2008, raising standards and improving the efficiency and resilience of the water industry in the country. In the Maldives, Hitachi Plant Technologies Group (Japan) acquired a 20 per cent stake in a major water and sewage treatment company in 2010, and helped streamline and update operations by leveraging the company’s strengths and know-how. Some TNCs involved in infrastructure industries are also from developing countries, and sometimes they have cooperated with international organizations which provide multilateral support on climate change adaptation as well as related infrastructure development to SIDS. Effective climate change adaptation in SIDS is beyond the scope and capability of any single organization; it should involve partnerships among all relevant entities and stakeholders to achieve scale-up (AOSIS and UNF, 2008). With a proper institutional framework in place, TNCs can participate and play an important role. However, a number of barriers still exist to the private financing of adaptation practices in SIDS, including the lack of local capacities and resources, weak domestic markets and institutions, as well as the lack of interest by international investors. PPPs are needed to overcome these barriers and for a creative leveraging of foreign private resources; capacity building of host country governments is the crucial first step. In this context, the importance of data collection cannot be overstated, which is fundamental to any further research in the area.
APPENDIX B
MSS RESEARCH PAPER
Employment strategies for developing countries
For the developing countries as a whole, the most critical question is how to create quickly hundreds of millions of jobs for the poor with limited purchasing power and limited capital for investment. The idea that most of these jobs could be created in the corporate sector or by government sponsored activities has been put to rest. Currently, there are nearly one billion self-employed and unpaid family workers in the world, most of them self-employed farmers in developing countries. The self-employed represent 48 per cent of the workforce in low-income economies (less than $500 per capita GDP). For any strategy to be successful, it must give central importance to self-employment and entrepreneurship, with emphasis on agriculture, agro-industry and small firms in the informal sector. While a single approach will not be applicable to countries and regions of the world in different stages of development, a number of common principles and strategies are widely applicable.
Agriculture as an engine
Slightly more than half the world’s work force, of whom 30 per cent are women, are still engaged in agriculture. Agriculture will remain the largest single occupation for the foreseeable future. For too long this sector has employment strategies for developing countries been regarded by planners primarily as the source of essential food production. Historically, agriculture has also played a major role as an engine for economic growth and employment. The Industrial Revolution in nineteenth-century England was spawned by rising productivity and incomes in agriculture that increased demand for manufactured goods. In post-war Japan, South Korea, and more recently Thailand, rising agricultural productivity and a shift to commercial crops have been dynamic engines for economic growth, job creation, higher incomes and rural purchasing power, wider markets for produce, and the growth of downstream industries. In Taiwan, this was the result of a conscious strategy to utilize agriculture to stimulate job creation and domestic demand. The vast technological gap between the levels of agricultural productivity achieved by most developing countries and the highest yields achieved globally represents an enormous untapped potential for stimulating economic growth and job creation. The reduction in agricultural subsidies to farmers in industrial nations called for in the recently signed GATT trade agreements will generate far higher international demand for agricultural exports from developing countries. In the next chapter, we argue strongly for an agriculture-led job creation strategy and cite evidence to show how it can generate sufficient jobs to eradicate poverty in many countries.
New deal for the self-employed
Excluding agriculture, there are 104 million self-employed and unpaid family workers in developing countries, representing 37 per cent of the non-agricultural workforce. Self-employed persons and the small firms which they establish have enormous potential for rapidly generating large numbers of new jobs and raising productivity to increase incomes, provided the right policy measures are in place to support them. Japan’s economic growth has relied heavily on the proliferation of small rural enterprises. Today, 74 per cent of the Japanese workforce is employed by small and medium-sized firms. China created 101 million jobs between 1985 and 1991, 70 per cent in ‘township and village enterprises’, of which nearly half are privately owned. In many countries, a large proportion of small enterprises is established by women and employs predominately women. An appropriate mix of policies focusing on access to technology, training, credit, marketing and distribution channels can substantially accelerate self-employment, particularly in the informal sector and rural areas, and among women.
Expand services
The service sector represents only 25 per cent of the labour force in developing countries compared with more than 67 per cent in the industrial nations. Contrary to common conception, services can be a major contributor to job growth even in countries at earlier stages of development. This sector is as amenable to stimulation by government policies as agriculture or manufacturing, and it also provides impetus for the growth of other sectors. Supportive policies have enabled trade, transport and other services to generate more than 50 per cent of all jobs in Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore. Services have produced more than half of all job growth in many other Asian nations, including private day-care centers, nursery schools and computer training institutes, which are multiplying rapidly in many countries, but can be expanded much further. India has adopted an innovative, low-cost, self-employment strategy to expand availability of long-distance telecommunications services by setting up small private telephone and fax centers throughout the country. Informal private service enterprises in construction, commerce, food catering, repair and transport have vast growth potential. Rapid expansion of education, training and public health, especially rural health and education, can also serve as a conscious strategy for employment generation.
Technology of organization
Much emphasis is placed on the widening gap in technology between North and South, but the gap in the technology of organization is even greater. Creation of new types of systems and organizations can create markets and jobs in many ways. The Dutch system of flower auction cooperatives is so successful that 68 per cent of the entire world’s exports of cut flowers pass through markets in the Netherlands. The franchise system has led to a rapid proliferation of new businesses and new jobs in the West in such widely diverse fields as food services, home remodeling, dry cleaning and real estate. Industrial estates, export processing zones, export promotion councils, export insurance, warehouse receipts, quality standards, and thousands of other organizational innovations have been either created or borrowed by developing countries to accelerate social progress. A comprehensive study of successful systems and institutions that can be transferred and adapted to local conditions will document the enormous untapped potential for stimulating faster economic and job growth by inventing, imitating and further improving social systems.
Action Plan to Stimulate Employment in Developing Countries
Employment generation is a product of multiple factors that combine together. Stimulating job creation requires a comprehensive approach, rather than partial policies or piecemeal strategies. The achievements of the Newly Industrializing Economies (NIEs) of East Asia demonstrate that tremendous increases in employment generation can be achieved based on comprehensive strategies. While broad prescriptions should not be indiscriminately applied to the widely disparate situations confronting different countries, the availability of a number of tested methods underlines the fact that effective and proven policy measures can be formulated to meet the employment needs of every developing country. A number of the strategies briefly listed below are enlarged upon in subsequent chapters of the report, but listed here for the purpose of comprehensiveness.
Emphasize agriculture
Utilize agriculture as a source of economic growth and job creation by a shift to high value-added, commercial crops, supported by policy measures to upgrade technology, improve skills, raise productivity, ensure the supply of essential inputs, establish marketing and distribution channels, create linkages between agriculture and industry, and cater to export markets.
Promote small enterprises
Promote small enterprises by policies to make technology, training, credit, marketing and distribution channels more easily accessible to small business, and by forging linkages between universities, research institutes and small enterprises. The creation of microenterprise banks and credit unions specifically designed to cater to the needs of the self-employed and small firms can be especially effective. There are a growing number of these institutions targeting clients that lack access to commercial lending institutions, particularly women, providing unsubsidized loans, and achieving very low levels of default.
Upgrade skills
Absorbing new technology, raising productivity, improving the quality and competitiveness of exports – all depend on the skills of the workforce. Labour productivity has been increasing in East Asia by 10 per cent a year, half of which is attributable to investment in education and technical skills. Training institutions and programmes in most developing countries provide only a narrow range and low level of skill acquisition to a small portion of the population. Raise skills to increase productivity by vastly expanding the lower tiers of the agricultural, craft, technical and vocational training systems at the local level to provide practical training in job-related skills to the saturation point. Imbalances between supply and demand for skills exist at all levels in developing economies. Make a careful assessment of present supply and demand for key skills. Compare the density of different types and levels of skill in countries at the next higher stage of development and evolve programmes to raise the quantity and quality of skills to that level.
Improve marketing
The organization of marketing is typically one of the weakest links and, therefore, one of the greatest barriers to economic growth and job growth. Brazil set up a distribution system for the export of citrus fruits that has enabled it to become the world’s largest exporter of this commodity. Improve distribution and marketing systems, especially for agricultural produce, by identifying missing links and establishing successful model programmes that bridge the gap between rural producers and urban or overseas markets.
Expand services
Actively encourage and support growth of the service sector through programmes similar to those utilized to support the expansion of small industry.
Develop exports
The new GATT treaty ensures that, contrary to earlier projections, exported growth is far from over. After agriculture, the textile and clothing industry is one of the largest employment sectors in developing countries. The industry’s global exports are $250 billion a year, of which Asian countries command 40 per cent. Trade in clothing is expected to rise by 60 per cent and textiles by 34 per cent over the next ten years. As labour costs have risen in East Asia, greater opportunities are emerging for lower-wage developing countries to take a larger share in growing international markets. In order to take advantage of the increasing opportunities opened up by liberalization of world trade, developing countries should accelerate steps to expand export-oriented markets by forging foreign collaborations and overseas subsidiaries, acquiring technology, creating an attractive commercial environment for foreign investment, and continuously building the skills of the labour force.
Innovate organizationally
Significant improvements in the competitiveness and growth of businesses in developing countries can be achieved through raising organizational efficiency and dynamism through better internal management practices and better commercial systems in the marketplace. Conduct a comprehensive study of successful management practices, systems and institutions from both developing and developed countries that can be transferred and adapted to local conditions in order to accelerate development in each field of activity. Evolve new organizational patterns for existing industries based on adaptation of new technologies in small, geographically decentralized, labour-intensive production units in order to make these industries more responsive, flexible, efficient and competitive.
Extend basic education
A distinguishing feature of the East Asian countries has been their emphasis during the early stage of industrialization on primary and secondary education, especially in rural areas. This strategy increases the productivity of the mass of the workforce, helps promote income equality, consumer spending power and broad support for high growth and pro-business policies. Raise the educational qualifications of the workforce to the level pertaining in more economically advanced nations. Place particular emphasis on primary and secondary education, rural education and education of young girls.
Disseminate information
Encourage the establishment of new institutions, programmes and systems to speed and extend the dissemination of practically useful information as a powerful catalyst for more rapid social progress. Encourage a national climate of open-mindedness to foreign ideas, influences and success stories.
Increase the velocity of money and other transactions
Increase the speed of commercial transactions, especially money flows, in the economy by streamlining government and banking procedures, ensuring rapid utilization of funds by all government agencies, setting strict limits on the time taken for bank transfers, introducing agencies for credit verification and collection of unpaid bills, and improving the telecommunications infrastructure.
Revamp higher education
Educational systems which ‘manufacture graduates’ compound the problem rather than alleviating it. The problem of the educated unemployed is not so much the amount of education they receive, but the type of knowledge and attitudes imparted. Reorient the educational curriculum at all levels, especially higher education, to impart the knowledge and attitudes needed to promote self-employment and entrepreneur ship rather than salaried employment.
Employment planning
Studies of Japan and the NIEs indicate that conscious employment planning is an essential requirement for generating full employment. Place the employment objective high on the national agenda and evolve a comprehensive plan to achieve full employment by identifying untapped growth potentials in agriculture, industry, exports and services. Launch a nationwide programme to implement all employment-related strategies on a highest priority basis.
Comprehensive Strategies
While most of the prescriptions listed above are known to all, very few are systematically and efficiently applied. Africa can benefit enormously by applying strategies that have worked in Asia. The ‘Prosperity 2000′ programme evolved by ICPF for India and presented in the next chapter seeks to utilize a combination of these strategies to generate 100 million new jobs within a decade or less, which will be sufficient to raise 25 per cent of the world’s poorest billion people above the poverty line. Given a comprehensive approach, the right mix of policies, good government and a conducive international environment for trade, technology transfer and investment, every nation has the capacity to develop and meet the employment needs of its people within the next one or two decades.
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