On the 24th May 2023, Pigg’s Peak Town Council collaborated with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Ministry of Education and Training, Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade, Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology, Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development, Ministry of Natural Resource and the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs to host the Eswatini Career Expo in Pigg’s Peak.
The Eswatini Career Expo is an annual national programme established in 2021. It endeavours to address entrepreneurial skills shortage, by bridging the information gap, among the in and out-of-school youth and the marginalized youth, as they prepare to explore their career options and the possible opportunities available to them in the job market. In this era, entrepreneurial skills are vital in promoting innovation, business growth and competitiveness for economic growth and improvement of the standard of living.
The National Skills Audit Report (2022), along with the Integrated Labour Force Survey (2021), states that the Kingdom of Eswatini is faced with a 33% national unemployment rate, with 58.2% of it being youth unemployment, in particular. This challenge is caused by a combination of factors which include skills mismatches, skills gaps, skills deficiencies and information gaps.
Therefore, the main aim of the Career expo was to disseminate information on potential career paths, empower young people on business opportunities and align their early-identified skills/ talents with the current industries, under this year’s theme “enforcing skills and entrepreneurship for inclusive economic growth in the 21st century”.
Speaking at the event, Pigg’s Peak Mayor, Absalom Ndlovu, he encouraged the youth to grab entrepreneurial opportunities with both hands in this era of youth employment scarcity. The event was graced by Pigg’s Peak Member of Parliament, Jabulani Mabuza who also stressed on the importance of the Career Expo to the youth.
POSING FOR A PICTURE: Piggs Peak MP, Mayor, Hhohho Regional Secretary, Town Council employee and the EBC registration officers
