Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams has championed innovation and the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) to bring South Africa out of its economic and unemployment slump.
Ndabeni-Abrahams was speaking at the Black Business Council’s summit yesterday, highlighting the country’s muted economic growth prospects over the next two years.
This week’s Stats SA data on the latest unemployment figures shows the country’s official unemployment rate is 32.6%. The rate among young people (15-34 years) is 46.3%, which, according to Stats SA, implies almost one in every two young people in the labour force did not have a job in the first quarter of 2021.
In addition, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s assessment of SA’s economic prospects show the country’s economy is only expected to recover to pre-pandemic levels in 2025.
As the communications and digital technologies minister, Ndabeni-Abrahams has pushed forward the notion of building a “4IR-capable army” that will be able to seize the economic opportunities brought on by the fourth industrial revolution and digital society.
As a result, her ministry has set itself a target of training one million unemployed youth in data science and related skills, to empower them to fill jobs of the future.
She told delegates: “Our assessment is that digital transformation and 4IR can help to augment South Africa’s global competitiveness. While we have seen the country’s WEF [World Economic Forum] global competitiveness ranking improve overall in the past three years − the country improved its overall ranking to 60 out of 141 countries in 2020 compared with 67 the previous year – the country’s ranking in human capital development remains disappointing.
“This means the opportunities available to our population to participate in the mainstream economy remain limited. If we harness the 4IR, we can effect progress in education, health and other key human capital areas, which would contribute to improving labour absorption rates.
“Not only that, but we also believe that by fostering diffusion of knowledge and skills development, the 4IR provides opportunity for industries to be more innovative and competitive.”
The minister emphasised that the fourth industrial revolution places a need for the reimagining of the skills and occupations currently in existence in order to take advantage of its many opportunities.
“This reimagining pre-empts the vital competence of digital skills as a human resource capability that is intertwined with the economic growth path and development enabled by the fourth industrial revolution. A key aspect of economic development and growth is the ability to enhance competitiveness through skills and competencies that are on par with international markets.”
Ndabeni-Abrahams pointed out that the knowledge economy will provide the country with an opportunity to leapfrog under-development and overcome structural barriers to economic transformation.
“There are basic building blocks to maximising key policy objectives and unlock innovative entrepreneurship. The release of spectrum, investment in digital skills for our general population, increasing access to digital service (at affordable rates) and broader infrastructure investments will be key to improving outcomes.”
The minister urged partners to come up with innovative responses to the country’s national challenges.
She concluded by reiterating that her department will be hosting a digital economy conference in September, wherein potential investors are expected to identify opportunities for investment.
“Our expectation is to welcome you ahead of foreigners if you demonstrate that indeed you want to take your rightful place among investors in the unfolding digital economy. We dare not miss this opportunity.”
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