Social commentator, Rafiq Hajat has urged the nation to embrace the development of youth centers amid sustained unemployment among the country’s young people.

Hajat described youth centers as perfect places for discovering and developing potential thereby creating more employment for the youth.

He said although the nation cannot dictate how youths evolve, it has the duty to provide an environment where new avenues could be explored.

Hajat stressed the need for incorporating technology in the youth centers.

“In this age of technology the youths are at the forefront of using it. It would assist with gathering and sharing of information,” Hajat told YFM online.

Hajat cited the development of the mHub, a community of Information Technology (IT) enthusiasts who inspire, motivate and train young innovators in the country as the way to go.

He said if he had the means, he would set up an investment bank for the youth where they would come with their most outrageous ideas.

Hajat added that he would also create leisure centers for the youth.

“The youth could gather and use the library, computers and internet to generate revolutionary new ideas with which they could pursue their ideals,” he clarified.

Nevertheless, he appreciated that to pursue these ideals one would need finances and initial investment, an area needing assistance.

Hajat identified the decline of the usage of traditional ideas in the country to create more employment opportunities for the youth.

“The country can embrace traditional ideas such as the old young pioneer to create more jobs,” he suggested.

Despite young people constituting 70 percent of the Malawi population, they continue to face challenges on the labor market.

Presently youth unemployment is at 23 percent compared to the national unemployment rate of 21 percent.