Young people in several towns in Ivory Coast receive 500 taxis from the Ivorian government. The first 60 taxis out of a total of 500 were handed over to beneficiaries coming from several cities in Côte d'Ivoire on Thursday March 28, 2024 at the INJS in Abidjan. This project, led by the Road Transport Development Fund (FDTR) and the Youth Employment Agency, aims to create several thousand jobs in the transport sector throughout the country.
Beneficiaries from several cities
Coming from Bouaké, Grand-Bassam, Daloa, Korhogo, San-Pedro and Yamoussoukro, the lucky beneficiaries received the keys to their vehicles in the presence of the Minister of Transport, Amadou Koné and the Minister of Youth Promotion, Professional Integration and Civic Service, Touré Mamadou.
During the ceremony, in addition to the 60 taxis, 125 driving licenses were also given to the young people. The government's objective is to support transport companies owned by young people throughout the country.
More than 1000 direct jobs created
After a first phase of 166 taxis and this second phase of 60 taxis given to young people, ultimately 500 municipal taxis will be given to young people in the different cities of the country. These taxis will be used in pairs. Thus, with the 500 taxis, the government intends to create 1000 direct jobs and 2000 indirect jobs according to Minister Amadou Koné.
As part of the Year of Youth (2023), 7,049 jobs were created out of 6,000 jobs targeted in the Transport sector. The government is targeting 10,000 jobs in 2024 or 8,000 jobs created in 2025 with the densification of river-lagoon transport and the development of transport in the country's secondary cities.
Amadou Koné’s promises
“You can count on the Ministry of Transport to achieve your objectives of impacting 1.5 million young people as part of the government's youth program PJGOUV 2023-2025 which has already impacted nearly 700,000 young people in 2023,” said promised Amadou Koné speaking to his colleague Mamadou Touré.
The Minister of Transport is committed to continuing the professionalization of the sector as well as strengthening the vehicle fleet to meet strong demand. He urged the beneficiaries of this vast youth integration and employment program to make good use of driving licenses and taxis.
“Of the 15 million trips per day, the current capacity met is 7 million people transported. We will of course continue to strengthen professionalization through driver training,” he added.
For the past year, Ivory Coast has been engaged in a vast program to modernize the transport sector. This project concerns the modernization of the vehicle fleet, the reform of vehicle registration and the digitalization of infringement control systems.
By Yaya Kanté
Source : https://afrikipresse.fr
Afrikipresse (CÔTE D’IVOIRE)
