African Development Bank Group and Government of Tanzania Launch $54 Million Initiative to Boost Youth Job Creation in Zanzibar’s Blue Economy | African Development Bank

Dr Hussein Mwinyi, President of Zanzibar (center), AfDB Tanzania country manager, Patricia Laverley, and delegations representing the government and AfDB at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Zanzibar for the launch of the SEBEP project on May 17.

The African Development Bank Group and the Republic of Tanzania have launched the Skills Development for Youth Employability in Blue Economy project. This is a project that will enable young people in Zanzibari to find well-paid jobs in the maritime and other blue economy.

The bank is providing a $48.65 million grant for the project, with the Tanzanian government contributing an additional $5.42 million. Both parties signed the grant agreement on 21^st from November 2022, with the official launch on May 17, 2023.

The project will benefit approximately 43,000 young people (40% of whom are women) and will prepare more than 1,500 of them to start their own business. They will be able to improve their livelihoods and stimulate the creation of new jobs. Ocean-based activities, including tourism, contribute over 29% of Zanzibar’s gross domestic product and employ approximately 33% of the workforce. At the same time, 60% of the tourism workers on the islands are foreign.

Dr. Hussein Mwinyi, President of Zanzibar, launched the project at a ceremony at the Golden Tulip Hotel near Zanzibar Airport. Ministers, permanent secretaries and other senior government officials attended the ceremony, as well as representatives of civil society and youth-led organisations.

President Mwinyi thanked the African Development Bank Group for its timely support, which he said would increase youth employability and job creation in tourism, maritime and oil and gas industries.

The Skills Development for Youth Employability in Blue Economy project supports the expansion of Zanzibar State University (SUZA) through the construction of a technology and business incubator on Unguja, the main island of the archipelago. The incubator will provide training and mentorship to young entrepreneurs, boosting job creation in the tourism, maritime and oil and gas industries. About 400 SUZA academics and teachers will receive new skills and training.

The project will also contribute to the upgrade of the Karume Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), which will offer courses related to the oil and gas industry.

In addition, the project supports the construction of five vocational training centers on the island of Unguja and Pemba.

Patricia Laverley, Country Manager of the African Development Bank Group Tanzania, acknowledged the Zanzibar government’s request for support in tackling the high unemployment in the peninsula, especially among young people. She said the bank’s presence at the launching ceremony was proof of its commitment to fostering human capital development and helping to transform Zanzibar’s economy.

The project is aligned with Zanzibar’s 2021 education policy and blue economy strategy.