Mussa was speaking in Lilongwe when he opened the National Youth interactive session on demographic dividend and launch of the African Union theme: Harnessing Demographic Dividends through investing in the youth.

“In addition to skills development for job creation, the Government, with the support and a loan from the African Development Bank seeks to create additional 17,000 jobs for the youth in the next 4 years under the Jobs for Youth Project. This is the first of its kind in Africa and lessons learnt will shape future interventions by the Bank on the continent,” said Mussa.

He said the current administration remains committed in improving young people’s lives and provide alternatives for disadvantaged youths in an effort to expand their access to education at all levels including vocational technical and entrepreneurship.

“We also need to improve access to credit facilities for the youth to increase their access to business capital so that they can create jobs for themselves and others. We are looking forward to the finance sector to come up with products that can enable the youth to access loans. Private sector also needs to open up to offer internships, apprenticeships and on the job training opportunities for our young men and women graduating from our universities and colleges,” added Mussa.

The Minister further states that Government of Malawi is in the process of establishing a National Youth Service. He said this is a national program to harness the potential of youth of Malawi through sustained engagement in activities that promote skills development and innovation coupled with behavior modification for self, community and national development.

“The government will continue to eliminate barriers to active participation of youth in national building including in political spaces and put in place mechanisms to facilitate their meaningful participation in civil and political structures,” he explained.

He also said government will continue eliminating barriers limiting young people's access to sexual and reproductive health information and services

“Let me therefore challenge and encourage the youth to be very proactive in providing guidance on key issues to be addressed for your development,” he appealed.