Ibrahima Bah

Dear friends:

It is a great pleasure to introduce my good friend Ibrahima to you. He represents the great intellectual potential of the resurgent, young Africa that has been sadly blunted by the corrupt practices of local politicians and the inertia of foreign institutions that do make a real effort to reach out to them.

Born in Guinea Conakry, he now resides with his family in Dakar, Sénégal, He keeps an eye on his village’s affairs as he has formed an association with his friends to promote the development of local resources so the young can stay there. A passionate of Literature, he obtained his Baccalauréat in 2011 and joined the academic staff of Cheikh Anta Diop University for 2 years. For personal reasons he had to quit the academic pathway and now works in a Chinese shop in Dakar but, like all the African youth, he is still dreaming.

Maître Bah, prennez la parole s’il vous plaît!

Youth unemployment in Sénégal

 In all the countries of Africa, the youth unemployment is one of the biggest social problems as it affects the socio-economic status of the whole society.If the political and civic authorities cannot design and implement long term policies to educate and employ the younger generations, there is no hope.

The international and national conjunctures, sometimes accompanied by political demagogy, are at the heart of youth unemployment in Sénégal. Too many Senegalese youngsters have little and no prospect of advancement. Politicians use them at the polls but, once in power, forget them altogether.

Young men and women are systematically excluded of the equitable access to the economic opportunities that would guarantee a good social insertion. As a result there is a growing chaste of young people that do not work or study because they feel, with reason, that the system is rigged against them.

Our educational system is not fully equipped to prepare the professional and technical cadres for a global economic system based on the information age. Even though we have proficient and committed teachers, there is no official long-term support for the amelioration of the infrastructure of our schools. The educational reform must start already at the level of the primary school.

We value the great cultural assets of our French-inspired educational system but we must acknowledge that we must integrate the Anglo-Saxon concepts of technical and business proficiencies demanded by modern capitalism. If the French authorities are trying to reform their educational system to meet the modern demands, we must not dither in our efforts at long-term reform.

Creating rational and accessible opportunities for real labor insertion in our societies will represent a long postponed act of justice for our own citizens. Moreover, taking young people off the streets, will prevent them to cede at the nefarious calls to violence, either in the form of theft or acts of terrorism. The resilient issue of youth unemployment in Africa concerns the West also.

What do you think? Please tell us.

Don’t leave me alone.