Language Opens Doors

Chinese proficiency brings job opportunities to Zambians

- Derrick Silimina

As Africa’s population increases, many young people are having trouble finding jobs that can improve their socio-economic situations. Owing to lack of formal jobs on the continent, many youths have to find an alternative in the informal sector in order to make ends meet. This traps them in a precarious employment situations, which contributes to a less than rosy transition to setting a foundation for their future.

Over 15 million young people in Africa, around 13.5 percent of the total labor force of 15-24 years, are facing unemployment and this rate is more than twice the unemployment rate of those aged 25 and over (6.1 percent), underlining that unemployment on the continent is hitting the younger generation hardest. Young women are even more severely affected, with an unemployment rate of 14.7 percent compared to 12.3 percent for young men, according to the Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s 2019 Forum Report.

However, Zambia’s all-weather friendship with China, which dates back to over 50 years, has translated into massive progress in all sectors of the Southern African country’s economic development - be it in construction, health, education, and agriculture, among others.

Rising Chinese popularity