Luanda – At least 490,798 jobs were created in Angola over the last five years as part of the government's strategy to reduce unemployment, the minister of Public Administration, Labour and Social Security Teresa Dias said Wednesday.
Presenting the "Report on Youth Employment", the minister said despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions imposed, the government managed to maintain 219, 206 jobs.
She admitted, on the other hand, that 271,596 people lost their jobs in above period, especially in the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The Angolan Executive recognised the need for interventions in the fields of social protection and employment, in order to allow for inclusive growth and mitigate the socio-economic impacts created by the crisis", she stressed.
Teresa Dias said that MAPTSS, through the National Institute of Employment and Professional Training (INEFOP), invited the World Bank (WB) to provide technical assistance to understand the challenge of youth unemployment, especially in the post-COVID period , and to improve the design of active programmes in the labour market, with a view to better reaching young people and beyond.
"The creation of jobs, mainly for young people, and social inclusion are among the top priorities of the Angolan Executive", stressed the minister.
In turn, the regional director of the World Bank, Albert Zeufack, said that the banking institution will continue to support Angola in the fight against unemployment, mainly among youth, because despite the economic slowdown, since 2015, the Angolan economy has created, on an annual average, 35,000 jobs between 2009 and 2019.
"Labour force participation is raised to 76 percent compared to 66 percent in comparable countries and two-thirds of the adult population has a job," he noted.
The director of INEFOP, Manuel Mbangui, explained that the referred report reached several conclusions, among them, that the majority of young people are employed, but in positions where the income is considerably low.
"Young people have training above the jobs they hold down, there is the informality of employment and most of them are employed in informal activities", he said. LIN/ASS
