I am the Executive Director for SEPAAD. We are an organization that promotes unbiased socioeconomic development under equitable conditions through integration, economic collaborations, and social cooperation. We provide the genuine pathway for investors and entrepreneurs to integrate with Africa resources. Our primary objective is to establish The African Transformation & Empowerment Banking Systems (TATEBS). We discuss regional cooperation on health issues, and literacy programs targeted at the poorest countries. SEPAAD influence incentives around the provision of and access to services. Key among these services, especially with respect to employment, is education. However, the productivity of individual employees and the labor force in aggregate, and hence the ability to take up expanded employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, relates to the availability and prices of portable water, sanitation, and health services. Incentives are altered at many levels for individuals, national governments, local governments, private sector providers, and other non-state actors. SEPAAD may lead individuals to adapt their skill sets to take advantage of labor market opportunities. These opportunities may arise locally and nationally and internationally in growing sectors (through trade or investment), or in neighboring countries, if labor mobility is a part of regional integration. While one would expect greater household investment in education, if growth is in unskilled or semi-skilled sectors (such as agriculture or assembly-type manufacturing) labor market entrants may choose to forego investment in skills upgrading. A key question becomes the role of public policy in supporting incentives for skills upgrading for instance, through public programs to co-finance household investments in education.

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Empowerment

SEPAAD and trade have the potential to increase employment and contribute to empowering people. Decent jobs are about more than income. They can provide a sense of personal worth of being able to provide for oneself and one’s family, and being a contributing member of society. Expanded economic opportunities for women can empower women and contribute intrinsically to human development, and have multiplier effects across other aspects of human development, including nutrition and access to health and education. The empowerment of youth through employment is likely to contribute to a decline in negative social behavior, such as rebel or gang formation, violence, corruption, and crime. For more info see https://www.sepaad.org