112,000 jobs created in first half of 2022-23

In its 2023 Annual Economic Report, the ministry says government launched the first National Job Creation Strategy, which is the blueprint for the creation of employment within an environment of accelerated inclusive growth and resilient sustainable economic development, as underpinned by the Malawi 2063.. It says the government, through the Ministry of…

The local economy created 112,000 jobs in the first half of the current fiscal year, between April and September 2022, the Ministry of Finance has said.

In its 2023 Annual Economic Report, the ministry says government launched the first National Job Creation Strategy (NJCS), which is the blueprint for the creation of employment within an environment of accelerated inclusive growth and resilient sustainable economic development, as underpinned by the Malawi 2063.

It says the government, through the Ministry of Labour and the National Statistical Office, developed a job creation tracking tool which is being used for monitoring the implementation of NJCS in Malawi.

“Based on 451 workplaces that submitted data on employment, an estimate of 112,000 jobs were created in the first six months of the 2022-23 financial year.

“In the next financial year, the ministry intends to disseminate the NJCS at district level,” the report says.

In terms of public employment, the report says that during the period under review, a total of 2,573 job seekers were registered in labour offices across the country.

“Of these, only 1,229 were placed. They represented 47.7 percent of job seekers,” the report says.

The report adds that during the period under review, the Ministry of Labour continued implementing the graduate internship programme in order to provide work integrated experience and employable skills to youths graduates in the country.

“1,556 interns, the fifth cohort, were then recruited in the previous financial year and carried forward into the period under review.

“The ministry then recruited and engaged 1,359 additional interns, the sixth cohort, in the month of June 2022,” the report says.

Speaking when he delivered the State of the Nation Address last month, President Lazarus Chakwera said the jobs portal, which is linked with the Labour Market Information System, tracked a total of 1,161,000 jobs.

He said the portal tracks jobs created and provides real-time data.

Chakwera, therefore, called upon the private sector to utilise the portal and report jobs created and jobs lost.

“I must also mention that since 2020, my administration has given opportunities to 10,119 interns, offering them their first work experience, and in the new financial year, we are offering opportunities to 3,600 youths,” he said.

Commenting on the job creation initiative, a Zomba-based economist yesterday challenged authorities to come out clearly on where exactly the jobs have been created rather than just throwing around figures.

He said in an environment of very high unemployment, it is right and proper to list the job creators so that the public could easily appreciate them.