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Tanzania’s unemployment rate increases - ILO 2005
-12-21 09:01:26 By Pacifique Nkeshimana, Bagamoyo

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) says unemployment and underemployment rates in Tanzania have increased over the past decade. Speaking at the three-day sensitisation workshop for the media on new labour laws and social dialogue for productivity enhancement and poverty reduction in Bagamoyo on Monday, Ali Ibrahim, the ILO Director for Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Somalia said that analysis from the last Labour force survey for Tanzania indicates that the unemployment and underemployment rates increased over the past ten years at a time when the economic growth rate almost doubled. ”Urban unemployment rates attained levels of over 20 per cent and youth unemployment attained over 40 per cent,” he said. He said that the household budget survey report also revealed that in spite of the relatively rapid economic growth, poverty levels in the rural areas did not decline significantly although significant declines were recorded in some urban areas. ’These trends combined with widening distribution concerns may pose problems for the future sustainability of the current growth process if current trends are not reserved vigorously,’ he said. Though, he said that Tanzania needs to be congratulated for its own economic growth achievements in the past decade, which averaged about 5 per cent per annum, it is still about 60 per cent higher than the African average. Said he: ’The estimates of growth of the economy for 2004 and 2005 in Tanzania at about 6 to 7 percent per annum are about 50 per cent higher than the current improved African average.’ He added that Tanzania is therefore increasingly being recognised as one of Africa’s success stories in the development process. ’As the nation marches forward with confidence into the future and projects growth rates of 8 to 10 per cent per annum in the next five years as indicated in the national strategy for growth and poverty reduction (MKUKUTA), there is a need for deep reflection on the character and pattern of the growth achieved in the past and the implications for the future arising therefrom,’ he said. He also said that the employment should be at the centre of all development projects so as to enable Tanzania achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). He advised the government to start investing in human resources because a nation that cannot develop its human resources and utilize them fully and effectively in the world of work cannot achieve sustainable development. He said that the productive employment is important in order to reduce poverty.
SOURCE: Guardian

10,000 teachers’ jobs announced By Damas Kanyabwoya, DodomaThe Government of United Republic of Tanzania yesterday announced emergency steps to fill nearly 10,000 teaching jobs created in fast-expanding secondary schools.Unemployed Form VI leavers with a third division or higher are among those targeted for the positions, the Minister for Education and Vocational Training, Mrs Margaret Sitta, announced in Parliament yesterday.The government has set aside Sh8 billion in the 2006/07 Budget to finance the fire-fighting strategy to cater for the recent jump in secondary schools and student enrolment under the successful Secondary Education Development Programme (SEDP).Mrs Sitta told Parliament that the country needed 9,500 new secondary school teachers to cater for the educational needs for this year. But only 3,707 teachers graduated from teachers’ colleges and the University of Dar es Salaam this year, leaving a shortfall of 5,793 teachers.“To deal with this acute shortage of teachers this year the government has devised a short term mechanism that includes providing a one-month special teaching training course to 3,500 form six leavers whose passing levels are Division III or higher,” she said. The crash courses will be carried out at Butimba, Mtwara, Morogoro, Monduli, Tabora, Tukuyu and Korogwe teachers’ colleges.Additionally, the government will also extend for two years the contract of 250 retiring teachers who are still able and willing to continue teaching. The government is also planning to employ 260 graduating university students from other fields other than education and provide them with teaching education later in order to reduce the shortage of teachers, she said. “The government will continue to devise similar strategies and programmes to cater for increasing demands of teachers in the country,” she said.The SEDP, which was started in 2004, has made it possible for 49 percent of last year’s primary school leavers or 243,359 students to join secondary school by March 2006 surpassing this year’s target of 40 percent.Mrs Sitta said that since the programme started, the number of public secondary schools in the country has almost tripled from 649 schools in 2003 to 1,699 in May 2006. In the three years of SEDP alone 1,050 schools have been built. “One lesson we have learnt from this dramatic increase of secondary schools is that whenever there is unwavering leadership and a positive public responseTanzanians can perform wonders for the benefit of the whole nation,” she said.
Jun 17th, 2006 - 07:46:22 Kaanaeli Kaale
Workshop Report on Facing Youth Unemployment in Tanzania 1. The Workshop on “Facing Youth Unemployment in Tanzania: Challenges and the Way Forward” was held at the National College of Tourism- Dar es Salaam, from 29 to 30 March, 2006.The Workshop was organized by the National Youth Information Centre (NICE), in collaboration with the Foundation for Civil Societies. 2. Youth makes up more than 40 per cent of the world’s total unemployed. Forced by poverty and the lack of possibilities for better jobs, many young people in Tanzania have no alternative but to turn to informal activities to earn income. With economic growth being insufficient to absorb new labour force entrants, there is a danger that informal work will become the only option for large numbers of young people, thereby making the objective of a decent job for all increasingly unavailable.3. In 2004 urban unemployment in Tanzania was rated at 20 percent and youth unemployment was at 40 percent, according to ILO statistics. That Tanzania is the leading country with young female neither in school nor unemployment in Africa 64% and the second with 39 percent of youth neither in school nor in employment- Gora Mboup 20044. According to the integrated Labour Force Survey (2002) out of estimated total labour force of 17.9 million people 65% are young men and women between the age of 15 and 35. The survey also revealed that unemployment for the whole country is 12.9% and the majority of the unemployed are living in urban areas. While 46.5% of unemployed labour force is living in Dar es Salaam alone, other urban areas have 25.5% and in the rural areas unemployment rate is 8.4%. The unemployment rate for young people aged 18 to 34 is 8.6% in rural and 41.4% in the urban areas.5. The objectives of this project are:(i) Assess current policies/programmes for youth employment, focusing on the 4 main aspects including youth employability, equal opportunities, entrepreneurship and job creation(ii) Encourage/support the development of practical strategies for programme development and implementation to improve youth employability, equal opportunities, and entrepreneurship with support from the government and/or Private Sector i.e. financial institutions, private companies etc.(iii) To develop concrete ideas to contribute to short, medium and long term development of youths in Tanzania as well as to create institutional and technical contacts between the government and the youths.
In his welcoming remarks, Mr. Chrispin Mwansanga, the Executive Director of National Youth Information Centre (NICE), He told participant that unemployment problem requires two types of actions, Curative and preventive action. He concluded his remarks by emphasizing that youth unemployment is a serious problem which requires active participation of all stakeholders and that in this workshop youth should come up with realistic and practical solutions.

5. Summary of papers13. Mr. Bashiru Ally, Assistant Lecturer at the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Dar es Salaam presented a paper on “The significance of political will, in solving Youth unemployment”. The presenter, among other things, highlighted social, economical and political changes in Tanzania since independence to date in relation to employment matters. He showed concern regarding liberal policies emulated by the government because they leave employment to be determined by the market. He suggested that there should be a mechanism through which such policies are adjusted accordingly to fit into our environment. The presenter further added that most of the Tanzanians are poor and that liberal policies would do much harm to the majority, a big proportion being the youths. He insisted that good governance and strong political will by leaders is the most important issue in combating youth unemployment. He finally praised the current governments’ willingness to solve the current unemployment problem.14. E. Riwa, representative from the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Youth Development presented a paper on the “Role of the Ministry in Facilitating Youth Employment and Job Creation” The presenter briefly outlined some of governmental strategies in fighting youth unemployment in the country. She outlined several government initiatives for youth development: Youth Economic Groups, National Youth Week, Review of the National Youth Policy, Establishment of National Youth Council, Formation of Youth Organizations (Youth –NGOs), Youth Service Scheme Award Programme, and Information and Data Collection for Youth Development. She further explained in detail that at the moment the government is very willing to support youth groups who come out with innovative proposal aimed at solving the problem. She also informed the participants that at the moment the government is preparing the National Employment Strategy. She asked the participants to give their inputs in a matrix form. In her conclusion Ms. Liwa reminded participants to argue intellectually using evidence. She said “you are all from higher learning institutions, so if you want to argue something with the government you need to have three tools which are constitution of the united republic of Tanzania, the ruling party manifesto and the respective policy. You can also have other supporting documents like MKUKUTA, VISION 2025” These are the guiding instruments for the government. He argued participants to read those tools so that they all understand what is going on at the National level.15 Mr. Jonathan Kingu from TMS CONSULTANTS presented a paper on “Self Employment Opportunities through SMEs Franchising Programme”. The presenter explained that franchising is any arrangement in which the owners of a business name; Trade name, trade mark or copy right has licensed others to use it in selling goods or services. With vast experience in business, the presenter briefly explained how his firm works in the fighting youth unemployment. He highlighted some of the areas for employment creation. The presenter volunteered to assist youth groups/organizations which will be formed by seminar participants to start their own business by giving them free consultancy. He provided the participants with contacts so that they can contact him if they are serious about starting their own businesses. He said so far TMS consult has given presentation at the University of Dar es Salaam and they plan to do the same in other institutions.16. Mr. Khalidi Swabiri from University of Dar es Salaam Entrepreneurship Centre (UDEC) presented a paper on “The Role of SMEs in Job Creation and Poverty Eradication”. The presenter explained the overview of SME sector in Tanzania. The sector is estimated to generate about a third of GDP, employs about 20% of Tanzanian labour force and has greatest potential for further generation. Indeed, in the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (MKUKUTA), SMEs have been identified as a means to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). He explained some constraints facing development of SMEs as unfavorable business environment, limited access to finance, lack of power to influence change, limited access to important network, limited access to support services and limited awareness and capacity. However, given its due attention, the presenter told participants that SMEs have greatest employment creation for youths. The challenge is to put policies in place that encourage youths to engage actively and productively in SMEs. He concluded his presentation by acknowledging the current initiatives by the government of fully supporting the growth of welfare to SME sector as an important step towards poverty eradication and job creation. And made his suggestion on what should be done to further strengthen SMEs. The suggestion included establishment of SMEs Bank, promoting SMEs networking through clustering, Government increase its support to SMEs and development of partnership with the government.17 A paper on “The Role of Tourism in Economic Growth and Job Creation” was presented by Mr. Fred Msemwa and Damas Mfugale from the National College of Tourism. The presenters highlighted the role tourism industry is playing in creating youth employment. They further stated that the sector employs more than 200 million people in the world. Around 110,000 were employed in 1996 and currently around 322,000 people are working in the sector in Tanzania. Thus, tourism is a potential area to secure jobs compared to other sector due to rapid growth of the industry. They argued participants to see the possibility of joining the sector instead of complaining that the sector is full of foreigners. They gave an example of hotel managers coming from outside the country. Our universities do not offer degree courses in hospitality, so if the qualification is M.A in hotel management where are you going to get such a candidate. Mind you hotels are meant to save people from different nations and not mere Tanzania.18. Mr. Godwin Kaganda, Lecturer from the Institute of Finance Management presented a paper on “The role of financial Institutions in job creation and Employment “The presenter highlighted the mechanism of financial institutions with regard to provision of financial facilities to youths. He recommended the government and other stakeholders to create enabling environment that will give youth access to enjoy financial facilities in an effort to fight youth unemployment. He concluded his presentation by informing the participants that financial institution relies heavily on the policy of the country, so the government needs to create policies which will influence financial institutions to easy their conditionality for youths to access funds.
.1.1. Forming Groups and SACCOSThe government showed its commitment to solving youth unemployment problem by advising youths to form groups and form SACCOS to enable them get support for self employment. It was recommended that the government should publicize this idea and stipulate clearly what are the criteria for forming such groups. It was suggested that a good group should combine people from different education levels. Other criteria were left to be set by the government.7. RECOMMENDATIONS
7.1 RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE GOVERNMENT7.1.2 Setting of desk to deal with youth proposalsIt was recommended that the government should establish a desk which will be responsible for receiving and scrutinizing proposals from youths. Participants suggested that to start with the government can set a desk at the ministry later on go to district level.7.1.3. EducationParticipants were of the opinion that the problem of unemployment does not only emanate from the liberal policies we emulate but also the education we receive from our educational institutions. Participants said that the current education does not meet the needs of the private sector nor self-employment. It prepares youth to take up ready made jobs in the public sector which are not available for all. It was recommended that the government should direct educational institutions to conduct a thoroughly study of the private sector to determine what are the human resources needs and adjust their curriculum accordingly.Also Career guidance and counseling should be introduced in our curriculum so that it guides pupils in choosing their career and future employment with regard to their abilities and interests. So the government should direct teachers colleges to provide this kind of training.7. 1. 4. LanguageLanguage was discussed thoroughly; the participants recommended that, the current language debate of whether Swahili or English is misled. Participants were of the opinion that Tanzanians especially those in learning institutions should master both languages. In the current global economy knowledge of more than one language is an asset. Therefore, the government should invest in both languages English and Kiswahili. 7.1.5. Availability of Official DocumentsIt was recommended that the official documents which are supposed to guide youth and other stakeholders in trying to implement various activities aimed at improving the life of Tanzanians be made available to the public and youths in particular. The documents referred here are the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, Ruling Party Manifesto, the ministry’s policies both Youth Development Policy and Employment Policy. These documents give direction on how to deal with youths’ issues including employment. More ever it is important to have these documents together with programme of implementation in order for youth who are the majority of stakeholders to know the National direction, visions, MKUKUTA, MKURABITA and how they relate to MDGs and their place of action.7.1. 6. The Revised National Youth Development PolicyWhile the workshop was focusing on unemployment problem, the question of the development policy came up very clear. Participants were of the view that, the government should release this document to enable them participate effectively in different public affairs. It was noted that the issue of National Youth Council can hardly materialize if the policy is not yet realized. So the government is requested to release the policy together with the National Youth Council.7. 1. 7. Youth Regional Integration It was recommended that government establish a mechanism through which Tanzanians’ youth will participate in regional integration organs like EAC, SADC, and COMESA. The main reason was that Tanzanians’ youth will need markets and jobs in these member states. However, if there is no established mechanism youth cannot participate effectively and end up complaining about the influx of youth from other countries to Tanzanian labour market. A good example was cited of the East African Community where youth are not participating effectively. It was recommended to the government to establish a youth desk at EAC and SADC.
http://www.ydn.org.za/modules.php?name=VStuff&file=index&func=ShowStuff&SID=12.17-07-2007
The estimated level of urbanisation has increased from 25% in 1998 (UNPOP) to 33% in 2000 (UN Habitat). UN Habitat expects the level of urbanisation in Tanzania to increase to 55% by 2030 (UN Habitat 2002).
In 1995, the literacy rate was estimated at 67.8% (79.4% amongst males and 56.8% amongst females); by 1997 this figure had risen to 84% (UN). The 2002 Human Development Report estimated that the youth (15-24) literacy rate in Tanzania had risen from 77.4% in 1985 to 91.6% in 2000
While in 1998 90% of the labour force were involved in agriculture, this proportion had decreased to 80% by 2002 (CIA). The 2000/01 ILFS showed that agriculture and public sector employment are declining, while private formal and informal sector employment are rising. Agriculture remains predominant.
Tanzania has an economically active population (10 years +) of 17,827,578 (49% male, 51% female), an increase of 58% since the 1990/91 survey (2000/01 ILFS). The participation rate is 83% in rural areas compared to 68% in urban areas, but 84% of those who are employed work on their own farms. The 1991 ILFS found that unemployment was 3.6% (Standard/ILO definition) or 10.6% (6.7% males, 15.5% females) (National/Expanded definition). The 2000/01 ILFS found that unemployment had increased to 5.1% (Standard/ILO definition) or 12.9% (National/Expanded definition). Unemployment levels are on the increase, mainly because of the increase in urban unemployment. Unemployment in urban areas increased from 10.6% (Standard/ILO definition) in 1991 to 14.8% (Standard). According to the National definition, urban unemployment in 2000/01 was 32% compared to 8.4% in rural areas, while Dar es Salaam had an unemployment rate of 46%.
ILFS 2000/01 showed youth unemployment rate is about four times the adult unemployment rate and is growing at double the rate for adult unemployment. According to the National/Expanded definition, 13.36% of all youth aged 15-24 years are unemployed (11.84% of males and 14.82% of females in this age group). In the 10-17 year age group, 11.2% of those in rural areas (28.4% of males and 30.9% of females) and 29.7% in all urban areas (10.6% of males and 11.9% of females) were unemployed. The unemployment rate for this age group in Dar es Salaam alone was 60.8%. (National/Expanded definition) In the 18-34 year age group, 8.6% of those in rural areas (8.9% of males and 8.4% females) and 41.4% of those in all urban areas (33.3% of males and 47.7% of females) were unemployed. The unemployment rate for this age group in Dar es Salaam alone was 55%. (National/Expanded definition). According to the Standard/ILO definition, 6.4% of youth aged 10-17 and 6.2% of youth aged 18-34 are unemployed. 10-17 years: 5.5% in rural areas, 16.3% in all urban areas, 40.3% in Dar es Salaam. 18-34 years: 2.7% in rural areas, 22.4% in all urban areas, 36.4% in Dar es Salaam. It is estimated that between 500,000 and 800,000 youth annually seek to enter the labour market and youth aged 10 to 34 years now represent 73% of the unemployed (from about 60% in 1990/01). 27% of all unemployed are between 15-19.
86.6% (8% from urban areas and 78.6% from rural areas) of economically active youth aged 10-17 and 84% (13.2% from urban and 70.8% from rural areas) of economically active youth aged 18-34 are employed.
83% of employed youth are active in private traditional agriculture, 7.4% in the private informal sector, 5.4% in NGO, Party, Religious or other private organisations, 3.9% do housework duties, 0.2% work for the central or local government and 0.1% for para-statal organisations (2000/01 ILFS).
Youth unemployment in Tanzania is on the increase, as is underemployment. An increasing number of youth is moving to urban centres like Dar es Salaam, but are unable to find work. Suggestion that this is due to lack of skills and work experience, but also that the urban Tanzanian economy is unable to absorb the potential work force.
The major obstacle to the reduction of youth and general unemployment and underemployment is the economy of Tanzania. It is mainly based on agriculture in rural areas and there are very few formal employment activities in the urban centres. Education is deemed very important and there are a number of education initiatives to increase the skills of the work force, but the economy is not necessarily able to absorb a more skilled work force. Therefore, education levels only seem to have a small impact on employment: people with secondary education have an employment rate of between 16%-26%, while those who have only completed primary school have an employment rate of 14%. However, the percentage change in the number of unemployed (standard) overall between 1990/01 to 2000/01 was 125%. Amongst those people without any education the change was 143.7%, amongst those with incomplete primary education the change was 90.9%, while for those with completed primary education the change in the unemployment rate was 113.4%. However, amongst those people who had secondary education or higher, the percentage change was 287.8%, which indicates that education levels are increasing but that there are no jobs to absorb this more skilled workforce. Another problem is lack of experience, as 60.4% of all unemployed have no work experience. Policy often focuses on agriculture, self-employment and less formal job opportunities, especially for youth, but there is no information about how successful this is.
Effects of government policy on youth (un)employment
Government policy focuses on education and the promotion of entrepreneurship and the informal sector to combat youth unemployment. However, there are no indications if such initiatives have been implemented or if they have had any effect on youth unemployment (statistics suggest that they have not). Other proposed strategies include the development of the agricultural sector, although this does not appear to be a viable strategy for economic development overall.
Key Challenges for youth
While there is no data of youth opinion in Tanzania, statistics suggest that unemployment and HIV/AIDS must be acknowledged as major problems by youth. Youth unemployment is increasing at a much greater rate than that of older age groups, despite the fact that youth aged 15 to 24 years represent less than 20% of the total population. Although there are a number of government and donor initiatives to combat youth unemployment, these do not seem to have any discernible effect and it seems unlikely that this will change in the foreseeable future. Tanzania is generally grouped as one of the countries most affected by HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa, and as a result a substantial number of awareness programmes have been implemented in the country by government, foreign donors and international NGOs like PSI. Awareness of HIV/AIDS issues amongst youth is generally assumed to be fairly good due to these initiatives. However, lack of other income-earning opportunities apparently drives many urban females towards prostitution and infection rates are on the increase amongst this group.