Zanzibar strengthens labour market intelligence

ZANZIBAR, Tanzania (ILO News) – Better employment policies start with knowing where jobs are, where skills are needed and how the labour market is changing.

The Ministry of Youth, Employment and Empowerment (MYEE), with technical support from the International Labour Organization (ILO), is strengthening the implementation of Zanzibar’s Labour Market Information System (LMIS), an important step towards transforming fragmented labour market data into intelligence for policy and action

On 17–20 August 2026, eight government institutions responsible from data government communications strengthened their capacity in Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange (SDMX) and data modelling, building the technical foundations needed to harmonise, exchange and use labour market information more effectively.

The result sought is clear, a government-owned system capable of producing timely, reliable and comparable labour market information to promote and inform Zanzibar’s decent agenda.

Opening the workshop, Deputy Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Youth, Employment and Empowerment, Mr Khalid Masoud Waziri, appreciated the ILO for fostering government ownership of this system and urged government officials on to ensure that this LMIS is used effectively by public institutions to inform policy development and decision-making.

© ILO

© ILO

Labour market information is generated across different institutions, but its value depends on whether it can be brought together and used effectively. Zanzibar’s LMIS is designed to connect and harmonize information from multiple sources, helping policymakers better understand where jobs are being created, which skills employers need and where skills gaps require attention. These questions have direct implications for skills development, youth employment, education and training, investment and employment policy.

Recognising that technology alone will not make an LMIS successful, the current focus is on strengthening the institutional capacity needed to produce, manage, exchange and use quality data. 30 participants representatives from government institutions responsible for key LMIS indicators strengthened practical competencies in data modelling and SDMX. These skills will help establish common approaches that allow generated by different institutions to “speak the same language, supporting greater consistency, comparability and exchange of data across the government.

It builds on a Data Production Workshop held in 2024 and subsequent collaboration between MYEE and the ILO on the development of the LMIS Master Plan. The focus is now shifting progressively from designing the system to operationalising it and strengthening institutional ownership and a Zanzibari functioning system.

For Zanzibar, this transition is critical: a sustainable LMIS requires government institutions to routinely produce quality information, share it using common standards and translate it into intelligence that policymakers can act upon.

For the ILO, this is where labour market information connects directly with the decent work agenda: ensuring that employment and skills policies are grounded in credible evidence and respond to the realities of workers and enterprises.

By strengthening the institutions and technical capacity behind its LMIS, Zanzibar is laying the foundation for more evidence-informed labour market policies and, ultimately, better employment opportunities for people and stronger alignment between skills and the needs of the economy.