OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THE JOBS FOR AFRICA FOUNDATION 3 November 2016, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. Networking reception from 6 p.m. - 7.30 p.m. InterContinental Hotel Chemin du Petit-Saconnex 7 9 1209 Geneva, Switzerland The African economic growth story is more mixed than it was six years ago when almost all African countries were experiencing accelerated growth. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, there has more recently been a divergence in the growth trajectory when African countries are compared with one another. Growth in the 11 economies accounting for 60 per cent of African GDP - the continent s oil exporters and the three countries involved in the Arab Spring has slowed sharply. Although the remaining economies accelerated their annual growth rate, the continent still faces a huge shortage of formal jobs, particularly for the youth. Youth unemployment still remains a ticking time bomb in the continent. The Jobs for Africa Foundation is an African Employers initiative to sustain growth and help accelerate the pace of job creation in the continent. It is an outcome of the work of the African Employers Taskforce on Employment and Employability which had the support of various stakeholders, including the International Organisation of Employers, Business Africa, the International Labour Organisation, the World Economic Forum, major African companies such as OCP of Morocco and Safaricom of Kenya, as well as major multinational corporations such as McKinsey and the Coca-Cola Company. The Jobs for Africa Foundation has its sights set on helping to build a conducive environment for enterprises to be created and developed in Africa, and particularly SMEs, as well as providing Africans with the employable skills to occupy the jobs created. The initiative also seeks to address the demographic changes in the continent. By the year 2050, the working age population of Africa will surpass that of China and India combined making the lack of jobs an even bigger push factor for emigration as we are currently witnessing today. Africa needs to take advantage of this demographic dividend by exploiting the huge opportunities and the competitive advantage that the continent holds, such as the youth bulge, large expanses of unexploited arable land, its mineral wealth, growing urbanization, the expanding middle class, the advances in information and communications technology, the entrepreneurial culture of its men and women, and the progress in social dialogue and democratic governance.
The African Employers Taskforce on Employment and Employability drew up a Blueprint for Jobs in Africa that sets out ten recommendations that each African country should implement to address the unemployment challenge. The Jobs for Africa Foundation was recommended as a tool to help African countries, employers and workers to develop a shared vision in the implementation of the objectives of the Blueprint. How can the Jobs for Africa Foundation help African countries sustain their growth trajectory of the last two decades? How can the Jobs for Africa Foundation act as a Think Tank to support African countries to develop strategic measures to transform their economies, increase productivity and add more value to their exports? How can African countries address the skills mismatch? How can the Jobs for Africa Foundation develop strategies to generate more jobs especially for the growing youth population described by many as a ticking time bomb? What role should governments, workers and employers organizations, and others play? What strategic partnerships should the Jobs for Africa Foundation develop? To deliberate on these issues, the Foundation will be officially launched at the InterContinental Hotel in Geneva on 3 November 2016.
PROGRAMME Moderator: Mr John Sibi-Okumu 16:00 16:10 Opening remarks Mr Jamal Belahrach, President, Jobs for Africa Foundation Ms Linda Kromjong, Secretary-General, International Organisation of Employers Ms Jacqueline Mugo, Secretary General, Business Africa 16:10-16:30 The state of African economies and the employment challenge Mr Amine Tazi Riffi, Director, McKinsey Global Institute Ms Azita Berar Awad, Director, Employment Policy Department, International Labour Organization 16.30-17.10 Transforming African economies: the critical role of investments in key sectors Mr Albert Yuma Mulimbi, President of the Board, Gecamines, and Federation of Congolese Enterprises Mr John Sendanyoye, Sectoral Policies Department, International Labour Office H.E. I. Dhalladoo, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Mauritius to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva (tbc) Ms Leila Mokadem, Resident Representative in Egypt, African Development Bank
17:10 17: 50 Building Partnerships for Employment and Skills in Africa Mr Aeneas Chuma, ILO Regional Director for Africa Mr Zissimos Vergos, Team Leader, Private Sector Development Policy, European Commission Mr Mamadou Diallo, Policy Officer, ITUC Mr Vic van Vuuren, Director, Enterprises Department, International Labour Office Mr Mthunzi Mdwaba, IOE Vice-President for Africa, and Business Unity South Africa 17:50 18:00 Closing Remarks Mr Guy Ryder, Director-General, ILO Mr Jamal Belahrach, President, Jobs for Africa Foundation 18:00 19:30 Networking reception Hosted by the Jobs for Africa Foundation at the InterContinental Hotel
Jobs for Africa Foundation 71 Avenue Louis-Casaï 1216 Cointrin Geneva Switzerland T : +41 22 929 00 05 F : +41 22 929 00 01 @africajobsforce Email : info@jobsforafrica.org Website : www.jobsforafrica.org International Organisation of Employers 71 Avenue Louis-Casaï 1216 Cointrin Geneva Switzerland T : +41 22 929 00 00 F : +41 22 929 00 01 @ioevoice Email : ioe@ioe-emp.org Website : www.ioe-emp.org Jobs for Africa Foundation (2016)