In his message to Cameroonian youth on Monday, February 10, 2025, president Paul Biya admitted a disturbing rise in youth unemployment in the country saying no country is spared by the phenomenon.
In response to the growing youth unemployment, the veteran leader who turns 92 today said he has instructed the government to fast-track the setting-up of municipal employment offices, to provide optimum support for young jobseekers.
However, Dr Nick Ngwanyam, a disruptive thinker and successful entrepreneur thinks the setting up of these offices is not a solution to the problem that stems from a failed educational system.
In this opinion piece, the founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), of the St Louis University Institute diagnoses the youth unemployment problem in the country and proffers some solutions.
Read on:
What is the Problem?
Youths have no jobs.
Why do they not have Jobs?
They lack the skills to solve problems. They can neither create their own jobs nor work for anybody including the state. Simply put: They are not productive and this is no fault of theirs but that of the state.
It is because of a failed school system where English and French are compulsory while Agriculture and Practical work are absent.
Just employing youths to sit in offices and be paid is robbing Peter to pay Paul.
It does not solve the problem of unemployment because no tangible goods and services are produced making a bad situation worse.
Civil servants currently are not being paid adequately and their output is less than 25%. There is a lot of corruption.
Who will pay the youths that will be employed and where would the money come from to pay them? Also, how many of them shall be employed yearly and for how long?
The civil service has 350,000 workers today with a population of 30 million. Yet this civil services is over bloated with inefficiency, corruption and tribal leanings as its hallmarks. Mass employment of youths with no skills no defined jobs to do, that will be self sustaining is dead on arrival.
How should the employment of youths be done?
1) Change the current school system from nursery school, through primary, secondary and universities.
2) Training of youths should be geared towards giving them creative and productive skills so that they can solve problems.
3) Training as we currently have it dishes out certificates with no skills for solving problems. This is the headache that must be addressed now and urgently.
4) This is the root cause of the problems we have in Cameroon – a failed educational system. Tribalism, entrenched galloping corruption, violence, bad governance, poor economic performance, poor development, poor politics, hate speeches, inability to live and eat together etc are all birthed by and are products of a bad education.
Strategies to use:
1) Combine all grammar and technical colleges and create comprehensive colleges.
2) Provide laboratories and equipment in all schools beginning from primary schools to universities. Practical work= 60% of the curriculum.
3) Make the teaching of STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics] easy and enjoyable to teachers and students.
4) Bring seasoned teachers and professors of STEM from India to come and upgrade our teachers and professors with practical work and easy ways of teaching students to understand STEM and industry.
5) Currently 80% of Cameroonian youths and teachers are into Arts and Social Sciences. These do not create jobs and industry.
6) Create a switch whereby 80% of students and teachers are engaged in STEM and industry.
7) The teachers and professors who shall be currently laid off and trained in machine assisted agriculture to grow rice, wheat, sorghum, millet, corn, soya beans and keeping animals on an industrial scale.
8) The Diaspora should be given double nationalities to come home and help. They have skills and resources.
9) Land should be provided to women and youths.
10) Taxes should be reduced. New businesses should pay no taxes for 10 years especially if they set up industries, employ and train youths, produce goods that support import substitution initiatives.
11) Encourage the population to generate their own free green energy and use it.
12) Universities should generate energy and sell it.
13) If we can do these things and live with each other in truth and love, Cameroon shall be great again.
14) We can even be the greatest nation in Africa of we do things right.
15) If we do not change our education, forget it – we shall become slaves to the Chinese in 20 years. Violence and suffering shall be our story.
16) Cameroonians wishing to import factories , materials and equipment for setting up industries should do so free of custom duties.
17) CAMTEL [Cameroon Telecommunications] has failed to provide cheap available and accessible internet coverage all over the nation including villages and schools. It is time to think of innovating that structure and linking it up with Starlink to provide very cheap and affordable internet everywhere.
Nigeria is growing very fast because they have cheap available internet driving their education and Industries.
Let us learn to do the right things, live and eat together. Shortcuts are very dangerous and do more harm than good.
Dr Nick Ngwanyam is a successful entrepreneur, founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), of the St Louis University Institute.
