Participants at the first symposium on job creation currently holding in Casablanca, Morocco have called on governments on the continent to develop employment policies and boost growth.

The symposium which brought together distinguished national and international panelists from 25 employers’ organizations for days, urged decision-makers to engage in direct and lasting dialogue with different economic and social stakeholders to promote public-private partnership, tailor legislation to suit economies as well as the changing world of work and invest in sectors with future potentials.

The Casablanca Declaration which follows the work of the conference initiated by the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs of the Moroccan Confederation of Business Associations (CGEM) in partnership with International Organization of Employers (IOE) called on employer organizations to promote the future needs of companies.

Such needs include the development of in-company training courses, support SMEs and VSEs structuring and organize African businesses around growth, productivity and the employment of young people.

With regard to trade union organizations, governments are urged to promote among other things, a direct, effective and sustainable social dialogue with a view to establishing a climate of confidence with economic operators, develop a common global vision based on the principle that business is wealth as well as a job creation avenue, playing a decisive role in sectoral and employment strategies.

In order to follow up with the declaration, participants at the Casablanca symposium decided to launch an African employer taskforce (a temporary organization created to perform a given task) on employment and employability.

Out of 73 million jobs created in Africa, only 16 million were allocated to young people, hence the importance of achieving adapted sectoral strategies, encouraging investment and job creation to deal with unemployment.

Africa as a continent of young people is in full demographic transition with a working age population estimated at 200 million.