Group news

Are digital skills the answer to youth unemployment?

By Mapule Ncanywa, Head of Naspers Labs

According to the World Economic Forum, Africa will be home to a billion youth by 2050. However, South Africa is undergoing a demographic transition, where our youth bubble is ageing.

Over the next three decades, the median age of our population is expected to rise from 25 to 31 years. This changing age structure gives rise to the demographic dividend ‒ a potential boost to per capita incomes, but only if managed correctly. According to researchers at the Center for Financial Inclusion, South Africa is amidst a waning window, which opened in 2005 and closes in 2035, to capitalise on our youth bulge for strong economic and social prosperity.

A case for change 

It is no secret that South Africa’s educational system has been in crisis for a while. Beyond education, our young people face a difficult society with limited targeted, innovative, or effective action to support them. It is one of the greatest tragedies of our time that we have unprecedented levels of unemployment, especially among our youth. The reasons for this are many and well documented. What is less clear is what can be done to address the employment crisis. 

Unlocking potential for tomorrow 

With the right mindset, one that challenges and questions traditional approaches and paradigms, we can redesign the workforce of the future. Empowering our population with a desire for learning and the skills required to see themselves and the South African economy succeed is fundamental. Technology is changing our world and global economies faster than ever before. South Africa’s youth need to be afforded the opportunity to participate meaningfully in our country’s changing economy. The next generation of South Africa’s ambitious, self-starting youth has inherent potential that requires future-focused solutions to overcome the many barriers that stand in their way as job seekers. Part of unlocking this potential is recognising that tomorrow’s world of work increasingly requires multi-faceted skills. These skills include technical and digital, problem-solving, interpersonal and communication, resilience and self-mastery, many of which are gained through experiences not readily available to young people – especially to those from historically disadvantaged communities who have not had exposure to work or extensive networks. The need for in-demand digital skills such as data science, software development and computer programming, among others, has created an opportunity to address not only the current skills shortage but also the skills mismatch for an increasingly digital South African economy.

Our commitment to empowering the youth 

It is said that during a crisis, incentives and motivations change, potentially leading to new cooperative behaviours and even the creation of new systems or structures. Crises can trigger collective adrenaline, focusing minds on solving problems at hand - that is what we are in desperate need of. Countries can only access their demographic dividend in the presence of supportive policy. This requires smart, effective and rapid social and policy change that better supports our young people. Naspers Labs is committed to playing its part in creating an enabling environment for the change needed to empower our youth. This commitment, together with our fundamental belief in the power of partnerships, is at the heart of Naspers Labs. We combine the invaluable experience of Naspers as a global consumer internet group with the skills and expertise of trusted implementation partners to ensure our youth development programme delivers material and meaningful impact. We go beyond training and skills development to help young people bridge the gap between training and real economic opportunities by placing them in jobs with our partner companies. This helps young people to access the job market, enabling them to gain work experience or to become entrepreneurs. Either way, we support them from start to finish – from skills development to job placements - taking young people over the finish line so they can be meaningfully employed or start their own businesses. All of which have a positive knock-on effect on job creation.

We have an ambitious goal to meet the aspirations of our youth. Over the next five years, we commit to enabling 10,000 youth in their endeavours to become economic participants. I am proud that we are already on our way to achieving this goal: 

• We have placed 2,274 youth through our various training interventions. 
• An impressive 1,772 young people have been transitioned into entry-level jobs in FY 2022. 
• We have also supported 31 microenterprises and are achieving a national impact with participants from provinces such as Eastern and Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North-West and Gauteng province. 
• We are empowering youth in provinces affected by high youth unemployment and multidimensional poverty.