Youth bulge calls for urgent plan to create enough opportunities

Youth during Gen Z protests in Nairobi. [File, Standard]

On Wednesday Decembe 4, 2024 a gunman shot and killed an American health insurance executive Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, outside a New York hotel. According to reports, the reaction to the crime exposes rage against the insurance firm’s policies and denial of patient claims.

This is a trillion-dollar industry, whose customers continue to express outrage over refusal to pay. Killing is against the law and a terrible expression of rage and there is no excuse for it. There have been protests against this company, the latest being in July 2024 when more than 100 people gathered outside the Minnesota headquarters of United Healthcare to protest against the company’s refusal to pay requiring its customers to seek and get “prior authorisation,” which allows companies to review suggested treatments before agreeing to pay.

I am writing about this case to demonstrate what extreme desperation can drive people to do. When Generation Z protesters took to the streets, they were desperate enough to risk their lives and many died, to bring change in Kenya.

No one should take the law into their hands, no matter what. However, it appears extreme desperation can cause temporary insanity or extreme mental anguish leading people to act irrationally and even tragically. We are still dealing with the recent suicides by medics, who according to their colleagues and families, took their own lives out of overwork, fatigue and financial desperation. Although Gen Zs appear to have retreated, this may not mean surrender especially because their issues may not have been addressed conclusively. Kenya is experiencing a youth bulge, which is a potential time bomb. This week, I met an enterprising young man who told me he graduated nearly five years ago and has been looking for a job unsuccessfully and does not have resources to start him off.

The government efforts to create employment within and outside Kenya will not resolve the problem because statistics show that 41 per cent of young people say they are unemployed and looking for jobs. That is a huge number of the population of nearly 60 million. With more youth migrating to urban areas to look for jobs, opportunities are dwindling.

The youth bulge is causing anxiety for government agencies in terms of governance management and planning. The youth are also increasingly wielding political and social power and are good in mobilising as we witnessed in June.

Thankfully, all is not lost. Reforming the education system to align with market demands, promoting entrepreneurship through skills training and funding, fostering public-private partnerships for internships and job creation, and prioritising development of sectors with high potential for job growth, especially in the informal economy, while also implementing policies to formalise and support this sector, are some of the strategies that can solve these problems. Strategies to promote agriculture and incentivise youth and provide them with structured financial support for start-ups in agri-business would help create numerous direct and indirect jobs and ensure food security and good nutrition. The youth are resourceful and entrepreneurial especially if they are supported.

Both national and county governments can come up with strategies to create an enabling environment, provide tax breaks and tax-free farm implements and ensure maintenance of infrastructure such as roads, internet connectivity, portable and sustainable water resources, cheaper renewable energy that is accessible to all and accessible funding mechanisms for young entrepreneurs to start their own businesses and fund their innovations. TVET institutions are enhancing access to quality vocational training programmes to equip youth with job-ready skills in high-demand sectors. 

We need to enhance business incubation centres to provide support services like mentorship, training, and networking opportunities for young entrepreneurs and create spaces for the youth to apply their innovative ideas and technical skills. The world is moving towards AI and other technologies while our education system and curricula is still behind. We must change with the times to create graduates who can compete in the technological jobs of the future.