Student Week: young people called upon to develop high-value skills

Kinshasa, August 11th, 2026 (CPA). – Young people have been invited to develop high-value skills in order to meet real employability needs, during the second edition of Student Week, held at Silikin Village in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the ACP has learnt on Tuesday from an association source. “A high-value skill is not simply a modern one. It is a skill that enables you to solve a problem significant enough that someone is willing to pay to have it solved,” has explained Hugues Boole, president of the Mouvement Citoyen Eclairé (Enlightened Citizens’ Movement). Speaking at a panel discussion on high-value skills in DRC, Mr Boole has invited young people and students to rethink their approach to skills and value creation, arguing that identifying a problem is the starting point for any effort to propose a solution. “The mindset for creating value always starts with first identifying the problem. What is the problem that I am willing or able to solve, or that I am going to learn to solve? It is only when you get to grips with the problem that you can propose a solution,” he has argued. In a similar vein, Goretti Kat, CEO of Minzoto Club, a social entrepreneur and expert in training and mentoring, has urged students not to limit themselves to a single skill, but to develop a range of skills useful for their professional development. “You are considered competent when you have acquired a range of skills, not just a single one,” she has explained. She has encouraged young people to identify the needs of their community and not to automatically wait for an opportunity to be offered to them, believing that they can create their own professional niche. For Joyce Masiala, coordinator of the second edition of Student Week, this first day marked an important step towards the next three days, through training sessions, soft skills development and opportunities designed to strengthen young people’s skills with a view to their entry into the labour market. Held under the theme ‘University Studies and Human Capital in the Digital Age: Learn, Adapt, Succeed’, Student Week continues until August 13th at Silikin Village. The second day will feature, in particular, the participation of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister in charge of the National Economy, Daniel Mukoko; Professor Nicole Bwatshia; Tina Salama, spokesperson for the Head of State; and the General Director of the National Agency for the Development of Congolese Entrepreneurship (Anadec). ACP/