EDITORIAL: Tanzania should use skills cash as intended to reach industrialisation goal
Reports that the government has secured a $6 million (about Sh13.6 billion) grant from the World Bank for improving skills of the country’s labour force are good news indeed.
The funds will be injected into the Skills Development Fund (SDF), and will specifically be spent on building capacity among the youth and enable them to work effectively in agriculture, agribusiness, tourism and hospitality sectors. Other sectors include energy, construction, transport and logistics as well as information and communication technology (ICT).
This is crucial for a country that hopes to transform itself into a semi-industrialised middle-income country by 2025. It is a well-documented fact that it will be virtually impossible for Tanzania to attain its development goals without a skilled workforce.
SDF is expected to play a leading role in combating youth unemployment by making young Tanzanians more employable and at the same time enabling the country’s workforce to effectively take on challenges that lie ahead.
The government should make sure that funds held in SDF are used strictly for the intended purpose, otherwise there would be no point in having the fund in the first place.
