Harness AI technologies to create job opportunities for youth - Johnny Taylor urges African leaders

The President and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Johnny C. Taylor, has urged African leaders to harness Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to create job opportunities for the youth.

Speaking to the media in Accra on Thursday, October 24, 2024, at the Global Conference on Human Resources in Africa (GCHRA), he expressed concern over the alarming rate at which the youth are leaving the continent to seek better opportunities abroad.

"By 2050, Africa is expected to have a population of 2.5 billion. So, those young people, educate them on the use of AI, and my God, you will be unstoppable on the planet. All the time, the data is telling us people are leaving because they don't see the opportunities here.

"You've got to train people, and you've got to make sure they have good jobs. Getting someone with an MBA from Ghana and that person can't find a job, naturally they're going to gravitate to another part of the world where they are going to find good jobs and use their skills," he stated.

He noted that economic development is crucial for job creation and retaining young talent.

"So, the government must ensure that there is economic development to ensure that people are coming here and companies are coming here.

"India is a great example; they have drawn companies. So, once you train these young people and they have jobs, they won't leave the country," he noted.

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Meanwhile, catch up on the latest episode of The Lowdown on GhanaWeb TV with Etsey Atisu as he caught with Philip Atawura, who just returned from a successful kidney transplant in India.