Stakeholders at PIDA conference call for more youth job creation

The African Union (AU), the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) agency and the African Development Bank (AfDB) called for governments to provide more employment opportunities for youths, during the recent Programme for Infrastructure Development (PIDA) Week conference.
The conference's theme was “Creating Jobs Through Regional Infrastructure Development.”
PIDA is focused on improved regional infrastructure, including transportation, energy and water. Its efforts are intended to impact the socio-economic development of Africa. With that goal in mind, the event promoted job creation for Africa's youth.
“Africa stands to benefit from its critical human resources, the young people, who must be nurtured to enable their meaningful participation in national development efforts, and I believe that infrastructure development is central to this,” NEPAD Agency CEO Ibrahim Assane Mayaki said.
More than 250 individuals and stakeholders who represented a variety of government, public and private agencies, development partners, and project owners and managers attended the event in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
“PIDA should play an important role in narrowing the gap between job creation and unemployment," AU Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy Elham M.A. Ibrahim said. "To that end, public decision-makers and private-sector management are urged to actively undertake training and skills acquisition in infrastructure development, particularly in building roads, rail systems, power generation and power transmission systems to enable young Africans to be well-prepared for the implementation of complex programs such as PIDA.”