Let more Tanzanian graduates emulate Joyce Msuya!

What kind of a career do you expect someone with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Immunology and a Master of Science in Microbiology and Immunology to have? Most probably a scientist in biomedicine, biotechnology and a few other such highly specialized jobs. But sometimes things don’t follow the usual path.

See for instance the case of Joyce Msuya, a Tanzanian microbiologist recently named Assistant Secretary-General, Deputy Executive Director at United Nations Environment, a truly prestigious position that has brought honour to dear motherland.

In the social media, as Tanzanians, we were excited by her appointment at UN, which has brought to fore, another role model and feel good factor that once in a while, we do need as a people. The good lady deserves the accolades, and I trust she will continue making Tanzania proud.

Looking at her career footprints, she has been able to get out of the box and make a career in development economics while working at senior levels at World Bank, that is before she joined UN this month. How could an expert in Biochemistry and Immunology manage to get her way into development economics and at such high levels?

In as much as it is great to specialize in careers we have been trained for, graduate should never forget that, getting a degree shows that someone is a very capable person. It is not supposed to limit you, to a single career path, or even a job search in just one nation.

Being a food scientist? Maybe you can also make it as a marketing profession. This year, we shall have hundreds of university students graduating. They must remember that a good number of employers in the private sector and international organizations do accept applications from graduates with any kind of valid degree. Why I am talking like this today? In as much as specialization is all too important, we cannot run away from youth unemployment crisis in Africa, where about 50 per cent of our graduates don’t get jobs.

Speaking on CNBC Africa, Prof Crain Soudien, recently lamented despite half of the graduates being unemployed, African institutions were not training the undergraduates “most of the skills of the future.” For example, in agriculture, can’t our graduate use it as path to industrialization?

A prominent African businessman, Tony Elumelu recently said one of the greatest challenges facing Africa is youth unemployment. According to International Labour Organization (ILO), this challenge is worsening.

At home, Lyatamila Ndyali in a paper titled Higher Education System and Jobless Graduates in Tanzania notes that “The Tanzania’s higher education institutions haven’t raised much of expectations the graduates lack the skills required by the labor market and this trend results in mass graduate unemployment.”

The founding father of our nation, Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere had passion for education for self-reliance, which today, is also the dose we need to control unemployment. For long term economic growth, it is not a rocket science, that what is needed is investment in a highly skilled workforce. What is the use of education, if one cannot create job or be employable or in short become self reliant?

I like the approach of African Development Bank (AFDB), where its states “Youth are Africa’s greatest asset,” and calls for “catalyzing youth opportunity across Africa.” African policy makers need to think of creating environment that will harness youth power for greater productivity and economic growth.

AFDP predicts Africa’s youth population will double to over 830 million by 2050. We must look at ways of ensuring that this very important group is employed.

underemployed and discouraged or frustrated. Our basic role as a community and a nation at large is to ensure that our youth has the chance to reach their full potential.

Saumu Jumanne is an Assistant Lecturer, Dar es Salaam University College of Education (DUCE)