Dodoma. President Samia Suluhu Hassan has outlined a strategy that seeks to empower the country’s young population.
Delivering an address to the 13th Parliament on November 14, she underscored a renewed focus on economic opportunity, political inclusion, and social advancement for young Tanzanians.
She pledged to “do everything possible to reach out to the youth” as part of her broader development agenda.
In Tanzania the youth constitute approximately 65 per cent of the national population.
Her speech signalled a marked elevation of youth affairs within government structures.
Special Ministry for the Youth
Central to the shift is the establishment of a dedicated Ministry for Youth Affairs, which will take charge of coordinating national programmes affecting young people.
She also announced that she will appoint special presidential advisers on youth matters, ensuring consistent consultation and a direct advisory link between State House and the country’s largest demographic group.
A new youth-centred direction
The policy orientation she outlined places considerable weight on job creation and expanding economic participation.
These commitments correspond with the ruling party’s target of creating eight million jobs during the current term, a pledge rooted in the CCM Manifesto.
Skills development and industrial internships
President Samia highlighted the pressing need for practical competencies aligned with industry needs.
To address this, the government will introduce special skills-building programmes through Vocational Education and Training (VETA) institutes.
As an important bridge to employment, young trainees will be placed in internships across major public institutions, including strategic sectors such as ports.
She further announced incentives for private companies that agree to host interns, aiming to strengthen the pipeline from training to the labour market.
Facilitating high-potential economic sectors
In her address, the President emphasised support for key sectors capable of generating large-scale employment.
Agriculture and livestock keeping, areas that employ millions, will receive targeted backing to boost productivity and stimulate commercialisation.
She said these sectors have the potential to “produce economic and employment opportunities,” indicating a renewed push to modernise and reposition them as credible business avenues for young people.
Expanding access to capital
The President also addressed persistent financing constraints faced by young Tanzanians.
She affirmed that her administration will ensure existing youth capital funds operate effectively and that additional resources will be allocated to expand their reach. Alongside this, she called on commercial banks to increase lending to young entrepreneurs, enabling them to grow enterprises and pursue new commercial ventures.
Delivering the ruling party’s promise
President Samia linked the measures to her administration’s broader employment strategy, saying that the combined interventions, spanning institutional reform, advisory support, skills development, sectoral enhancement, and financial access, will be instrumental in fulfilling the eight-million-jobs pledge.
“These and other programmes for youth that the government will undertake will help create the eight million jobs that the ruling party, CCM, said in its Manifesto,” she said, underscoring the alignment between her parliamentary address and the commitment outlined by the governing party.
With the establishment of a dedicated ministry, the expansion of skills pathways, support for strategic sectors, and improved financial mechanisms, the government is positioning youth empowerment as a central pillar of national development.
Her address suggests a comprehensive, long-term effort to place young Tanzanians at the core of the country’s economic and social transformation.
