A Parliamentarian of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament is advocating for a fundamental shift in strategy to address West Africa’s crippling unemployment crisis, asserting that the private sector, not government, holds the key to job creation.
A Member of the Nigerian delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament, Hon. Pascal Agbodike, made the call when he spoke to journalists on the sidelines of the ongoing delocalised meeting in Monrovia, where regional leaders are assessing the effectiveness of the ECOWAS Investment Policy (EIP) as a tool to boost employment.
He argued that governments across the sub-region cannot solely absorb the vast numbers of unemployed, particularly the burgeoning youth population.
“It is the private sector that gives what we need to develop every nation,” he stated.
To unlock this potential, Hon. Agbodike advised governments to “pay proper attention to the business of the private sectors” and embed support for enterprises into national budgets.
Hon. Agbodike however, proposed the enactment and implementation of legislation to ensure a fixed percentage of every ECOWAS country’s budget is channelled towards Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which he identified as crucial drivers of innovation and job growth.
He further stressed need for governments to actively support “all the factory owners” in their respective countries, believing that such targeted measures, backed by robust legal frameworks, would ultimately make unemployment “a thing of the past.”
