The Country Director for the World Bank, Henry Kerali has stressed on the need for the country to engage more young people with Information Technology (IT) and computer skills, as the IT sector is rapidly growing in Ghana and contributing largely to service exports.

Speaking at the End Poverty Day, held at the World Bank Office in Accra, on Wednesday, Kerali said, “the advancement of the IT sector can accelerate innovation and create more jobs for the youth.” This notwithstanding, there is a shortage of IT trained workers.

In the Ghana Employers Association Skills Gap Survey, 47 percent of employers reported computer literacy and IT as the most lacking skills among employees. In addition, 30 percent of employers indicated that employees lack technical and practical skills.

Poverty Gap

Kerali said that Sub-Saharan Africa shared prosperity performance has been poor, adding, “the key lesson is that breaking inter-generational poverty, reducing overall poverty, and boosting shared prosperity, will require transformational actions to spur and sustain strong economic growth and enhance human capital.”

He assured that the World Bank remains committed to achieving the goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030, which is defined as people living on less than US$1.90 a day.

The share of the world’s population living in extreme poverty fell to 10 percent in 2015, but the pace of extreme poverty reduction has slowed, a situation mirrored here in Ghana, where it is projected that extreme poverty will fall to 8.6 percent in 2018.

According to the World Bank, in Sub-Saharan Africa, the poorest 40 percent of the population experienced only 1.8 percent income rise per year between 2010 to 2015, which is below the global average of 1.9 percent per year.

End Poverty Day

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the declaration by the United Nations General Assembly, designating October 17 as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

Eradicating poverty in all its dimensions, as embodied in Goal 1 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, remains one of the greatest global challenges.

In the Africa Region, Kerali said, “the focus for this end poverty day is on Africa’s Youth and the Future of Work.”