S. Africa launches job fund to fight 25% unemployment

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BY PETER DURU A consultant to the defunct National Economic Intelligence Council, NEIC and former member of the National Working Committee of the ruling PDP, Dr James Abu has taken a swipe at the privatization programme of the Federal Government describing it as a failed project. Abu urged President Goodluck Jonathan to take a closer look at the entire process with a view to reviewing it to enable the exercise become beneficial to the Nigerians. Speaking to newsmen in Makurdi, the university don lamented that the process of privatization embarked upon by the previous administrations was skewed from the beginning of its implementation hence failed to meet the expectations of Nigerians especially as it relates to the revival of the sold companies

South Africa on Tuesday launched a nine billion rand ($1.3-billion, 911-million-euro) fund that aims to create 150,000 jobs in three years to fight the country’s 25 percent unemployment rate.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said South Africa needed “a new boldness and a new energy to be infused into the job creation process,” with two billion rand set aside to fund employment projects in 2011.

“Perhaps even more importantly, we need to be able to demonstrate that we can deliver on policy pronouncements and focus more on delivery than on talk about jobs,” he told reporters.

South Africa wants to create five million new jobs by 2020 but unemployment rose to 25 percent in the first quarter of the year — reaching 33.4 percent if discouraged job seekers are included.

The fund is open to proposals from government departments, municipalities, business and NGOs on Tuesday and will issue grants for job programmes.

“This fund is a bold new venture that acknowledges we have got a problem,” said Brian Whittaker, deputy chair of the fund’s investment committee.

“Very high numbers of especially young people out of work is something that the country can’t live with and for which we don’t really have known and fixed solutions. There’s an opportunity here to do something innovative.”

 

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S. Africa launches job fund to fight 25% unemployment