Fighting youth employment: National Employment Fund shares experience with visiting Chadian officials.

The delegation was presented to the press Tuesday, September 10, during a press conference at the NEF head office in Yaounde. This was as part of a three-day working visit, which opened same day in Yaounde.

The event, organised under the umbrella of the World Association of Public Employment Services, AMSEP, and its Sub-Saharan Africa branch, the African Association of Public Employment Services, AASEP, aimed to foster collaboration and enhance partnerships between Public Employment Services, PES, in Africa. 

The visit seeks to share best practices, experiences, and expertise to help strengthen employment services across the continent.

The Director General of the NEF, Moute à Bidias Camille, speaking to reporters during the presser, noted that NEF is one of the biggest tools used by the government to fight the growing youth unemployment rate in the country.

The institution, he said, has created projects in partnership with companies in the creation of jobs and other training programmes for youth.

“Employment, to me, remains the main headache for every government. We can’t fight or reduce unemployment without creating companies or bringing existing companies in a collaborative partnership,” Moute à Bidias said.

He insisted that “if any country succeeds to fight youth unemployment, it would have won the challenge of the highest problem in the world”.

Moute à Bidias went on to highlight that at the level of NEF, they have been able to organise 15 job fairs. 

During the fair, he noted, jobseekers are given the opportunity to exchange directly with their potential employers and convince them on why he/she should be employed.

The NEF boss equally expressed the wish that at the end of the working visit, the Chadian officials are able to have had first-hand knowledge of NEF, how it works and the different programmes the institution has been able to put in place to fight youth unemployment.

Enter Chadian delegation

According to the Director General of the Chadian work administration, Mamout Moussa, after searching within the sub-region, they discovered Cameroon and Chad have similar issues with the fight against youth unemployment and NEF has put in place strategies which should be applauded.

“We thought it was necessary to come to Cameroon because NEF, to us, has the experience and they have been doing this for a long time. We have been working tirelessly to assist our government meet its mission to fight youth unemployment,” Mamout Moussa said.

He highlighted the fact that this was not their first time in Cameroon and more specifically at NEF to tap best practices.

“We have been able to successfully implement several programmes and they are working and now we are here to seek NEF expertise in the organisation of the National Job Fair of Chad,” he stated.

The Director of ONAPE, Nassouradine Abakar Kessou, noted that their visit to Cameroon and specifically to NEF is in line with preparation for the upcoming National Job Fair of Chad which will hold in the coming days.

He noted that they seek to tap best practices and have expertise which NEF in Cameroon has. NEF, he said, has proven a track record in organising large-scale job fairs and intermediation events.

ONAPE paving way for employment growth in Chad

The Office National pour la Promotion de l'Emploi, ONAPE, it should be said, plays an important role in Chad’s labour market. As the country’s public employment service, ONAPE is tasked with implementing government policies aimed at reducing unemployment and promoting job creation. 

Since its creation in 1957, ONAPE has evolved into a key player in Chad’s employment sector. Its mission includes facilitating the professional integration of young people and low-skilled workers, promoting workforce mobility, and providing vocational guidance and training. 

The body, like NEF, has as mission to match employment supply and demand by facilitating connections between job seekers and employers; plays an important role in the professional integration of young people; offers project financing and support for job seekers looking to start their own businesses.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post issue N0:3227 of Thursday September 12, 2024