Manpower availabilities and need and the possibilities of alleviating the shortage of trained personnel in Africa

Abstract

Problems and prospects - whether of human resources development, of manpower availabilities and needs, of trained personnel or anything else - are a function of facts* It is with reference to the realities of a particular situation that problems are perceived as such and it is with further reference to: that situation that prospects must be appraised hence the problems of manpower availabilities and needs in Africa are a function of facts about Africa. In this regard, therefore, manpower availabilities and needs and the problems associated with the shortage of trained personnel in Africa are functionally related to the current and future manpower development strategies for Africa,- and it is with respect to this fact that an attempt is being made to highlight some of the major and pertinent issues regarding the development of human resources and trained personnel. It must be pointed out that highlighting of these issues is not something new and therefore we run the risk of being accused of indulgence in some form of repetition but only because truth is a bitter pill to swallow and therefore easier to be so charged* For the purpose of this paper, the issues related to manpower availabilities and needs and the question of shortages of trained personnel will be dealt with in the following manner: the need for .human resource development, manpower needs covering both sectoral and national requirements; manpower supply in relation to assessed shortages and the need for trained personnel, and finally what steps ought to be taken to avoid the shortages of trained personnel.