Driving his autorickshaw through the busy streets of Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gedeon, 22, said he never thought he would wind up performing the job he does.
He added that, like many young people in the incredibly poor country in central Africa, he had high expectations that the government might provide a brighter future.
After five years as a rickshaw driver, Gedeon declared, “I want to go back to school.”
He clarified that his desire to become an electrical engineer prevented him from going to college due to his financial situation.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, elections are scheduled on December 20. Felix Tshisekedi, sixty, is a candidate for reelection.
A significant voting group is composed of young people, many of whom experience ongoing underemployment. Of the 100 million people living in the nation, more than 60% are under 20.
In interviews with AFP prior to the election, a number of young Congolese residents expressed their desire for work and a return to peace in their war-torn nation.
Raphael Rubangiza, eighteen, associated expectations for improved employment with the impending election.
“We’ll have opportunities, we’ll have jobs,” he claimed, if “competent people” were elected to office.
Nonetheless, Rubangiza, a Kinshasa native and civil engineering student, is not delusional. Many graduates, he claimed, “end up selling phone credits.”
In spite of its enormous natural resources, the Democratic Republic of the Congo remains among the world’s poorest nations. According to the World Bank, about two thirds of people live on less than $2.15 each day.
All of the main contenders for president have made the commitment to create more jobs. Should Tshisekedi win a second term, he has pledged to add 6.4 million new jobs.
Assures –
Although exact statistics are hard to come by, unemployment is thought to be extremely high. A researcher at a think tank in Kinshasa named Valery Madianga put the figure for the youth unemployment rate at almost 70%.
Every year, thousands of graduates enter the workforce only to find that there are dwindling prospects in both the public and private sectors.
Prisca Musangi, a 27-year-old who studied law in Kinshasa, is unemployed.
“As recent graduates, we aspire to work in public institutions without needing recommendations,” she stated, alluding to the nepotism that frequently determines hiring decisions.
The 29-year-old CEO of a communications and financial firm, Alfred Bopando, expressed a similar desire for the next president to “give work to young people.”
Bopando declared, “We can no longer tolerate promises,” expressing his frustration with hollow promises.
Floribert Anzuluni, a contender for president who is among the youngest, concurred and expressed a desire to address youth unemployment.
The forty-year-old stated, “Promises cannot remedy this predicament. “You need to create companies in order to create jobs.”i
Wars abound –
For many young people, putting an end to the conflict in the DRC is also top priority.
The 25-year-old postal worker from Kwilu in the west of the nation, Beni Mingi, expressed his desire for drastic change.
He declared, “Those who were given power have done nothing.” “Wars are a constant threat to security.”
A large portion of eastern Congo is afflicted by armed groups as a result of regional conflicts that erupted in the 1990s and 2000s. One such gang, the M23, began an offensive in late 2021 and has since taken control of large areas of the region.
Brave Kafumbiri, a law student, stated that stabilizing the city of Goma, which is practically encircled by the M23, was a top priority.
“We need to put an end to the M23, diplomatically or militarily,” stated the 25-year-old.
He summarized the issues by saying, “We finish our studies, we don’t have a job, there’s insecurity throughout the entire east of the country, and the population lives on less than $2 per day.”
