Africa needs jobs not just COVID vaccines.
Africa has 2.5% of the world’s COVID cases, 1.2% deaths, but 50% of the world’s people being pushed below the poverty line as a result COVID*!
Mastercard Foundation has found that steady employment is a key predictor of people’s path and progression out of poverty. This is why at ETC we are focused on employment (over entrepreneurship) as a path out of poverty. If we are being realistic most of us need at least a few years of work experience and capital to even have a chance for a business to succeed. We need steady, decent income to get us started in life.
What this shocking fact tells us is that Africa needs jobs just as much, if not more, than it needs a vaccine!
The UN projections show that Africa will have the world’s largest workforce—larger than that of either China or India—by 2035. They will need education and training to be productive global citizens (gatesnotes.com) – what will we, as an interconnected world, do with this huge potential?