YOUTH SELF-EMPLOYMENTAND THE EMERGING SOFTWARE
DEVELOPMENT INDUSTRY IN SUB-SAHARA AFRICA:
CURRICULA AND POLICY IMPERATIVES
BY
EZEKOYE, BENADETH NDIDIAMAKA
DOCTORAL STUDENT, DEPARTMENT OF VOCATIONAL TEACHER EDUCATION,
FACULTY OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA
nmarybenerdette@yahoo,com; benadeth.ezekoye@unn.edu.ng
Abstract
Youth unemployment situation in Sub-Saharan Africa is of serious concern. The International
Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that three in five of the total unemployed in Sub-Saharan
Africa are youth hence the incidence of youth unemployment in Sub-Saharan African is
estimated to be over 20 per cent. Many of the youths have little or no skills therefore are
largely excluded from productive economic and social life. The youths with formal education
(typically the university graduate) often possess skills irrelevant to current demand in the
labour market. As a consequence, the transition from school to work is more often than not
unsuccessful; such that young Africans end up either unemployed or underemployed in the
rural and urban informal sectors. To address these different dimensions, this paper first
presents an overview of the emerging software industry relative to its ease for apprenticeship
as well as its economic prospects. The type of software (mobile phone application, interactive
tutor, games etc), the nature of the industry (little start-up fund, less intensive infrastructure,
flexible etc) and making the countries outsourcing destinations. The paper also discussed the
role curricula could play in making Technical and Vocational Education (TVE) demand
driven rather than supply driven. For example, in software/intelligent tutor development
industry, the technical college curriculum could be redesigned to empower students and relate
to the needs of the industry. Among other things, intelligent tutors are used to facilitate lifelong
learning programmes and enhance flexible, individualized and remedial instruction. On the other
hand, the android operating system has opened an infinite market for development of software
applications for mobile devices. In this regard, training youth on development, management
and application of software in different areas of education and life generally becomes
imperative and is a viable approach toward youth employment. Many countries in SubSaharan Africa, for example Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa, are also targeting new
business sectors (such as Business Process Outsourcing, IT and Manufacturing) where
technology plays an important role and hence require skills development for a rapidly
changing work environment. Therefore, modules on development, management and
application of software/intelligent tutor could be incorporated in secondary and postsecondary syllabi. In other word, the existing curricula should be reviewed to emphasize
skills on development of software/intelligent tutoring system and should be broad-based to
guard against narrow specialization and facilitate job mobility. Strategically, governments
should consider the following policy options: incentives like tax holidays for start-up
companies, software production centers, marketing supports, national competition on
software production and building international collision of the giant ICT companies (Google,
Microsoft, Sony, and Cisco etc) to support the youths. These measures hold the promise of
accelerating national economic growth as well as alleviate youth poverty, and increase
national pride associated with technology advancement. The paper concludes by suggesting
that ICT infrastructure such as constant electricity, reliable and high quality internet
bandwidth and other facilities need to be provided by the government to encourage the
development of the industry. An army of unemployed youths is a ticking time bomb in Africa
that jobs created by the software industry, among others, could help diffuse.