Ugandan Youth are the Key to a Flourishing & Sustainable Future Economy

As we celebrate World Youth Skills Day (July 15) with the global community, we are reminded that investing in our youth will transform, protect and grow our economy to benefit many generations to come.

Today’s youth are tomorrow’s workers, entrepreneurs, and leaders—and by investing in their opportunities to build, we can shape a sustainable and thriving future.

Uganda in particular has one of the youngest populations in the world, with 78 percent of its population under the age of 30. Many benefits come with a young population, but one of the most significant is the opportunity that they provide us with to utilize their talents and energy to build a more productive and robust economy. Yet as it stands in the current moment, young Ugandans are highly likely to be unemployed or underemployed—and the COVID-19 pandemic has only made this more severe. 

With more investment in skills training for youth, we can tackle this problem and prepare young Ugandans for prosperous livelihoods and careers in spite of being the generation to bear the brunt of the greatest crisis of our generation and theirs: climate change. Skills training is an opportunity not only to prepare youth for a future defined by climate change but to shape an economy that works to combat it. Preparing youth to lead and work in the sustainable industries of the future, like clean energy, tourism, forestry management, agriculture, and fishing, enable them to support their families for decades to come.

We believe the best way to support youth today and tomorrow to grow a resilient economy and combat climate change, is to safeguard and invest in the diverse, renewable resources that make Uganda unique. In addition to building the skills of youth, we need to ensure they have the resources to thrive economically by responsibly stewarding and tapping into the economic potential of our sunshine and wind, our world-famous landscapes and wildlife, our clean waterways, and fertile soil for future generations to benefit.

The future of energy is renewable, and skilling our youth to lead the region in clean energy development is a critical opportunity. As the world shifts away from climate-destructive fossil fuels, we have an opportunity to leverage Uganda’s solar and wind energy potential while also leveraging our youth. Luckily, clean energy skills training opportunities for youth in Uganda are already underway: One example is the Youth in Energy Empowerment Program (YEEP), an internship program that aims to equip young people interested in engineering with energy skills and experience that positions them for jobs and entrepreneurship in the energy sector.  With more investment in clean energy and skills building for youth, Uganda will have a competitive advantage in the future global energy economy. 

The tourism industry too, is a major employer of East African youth. Ugandan tourism firms employ a high share of youth in their total workforce (47.5 percent). The tourism industry’s investment in youths’ skills and abilities is not only creating jobs, but also empowering youth to lead a sustainable, Ugandan-driven future of our tourism sector—one that builds income for Ugandan communities, preserves the natural environment that keep tourists coming back, and benefits generations of young tourism professionals to come. 

The green economic opportunities for youth are endless, but in order to help youth take advantage of these opportunities, we need more investment in skills training. Not only will a more skilled youth workforce transform our economy to resist, endure and thrive during a time of climate crisis, but it will also give us a competitive advantage in the new global economy.