It is no longer news that young people living in the continent of Africa find it difficult to secure jobs after graduation from either high school or the university. The reason for this could be traced to the poor economies present in the continent. The poor economies have been brought about by massive corruption, lack of infrastructures and the slow pace of innovation on the continent. Therefore, in this article we proffer ways in which young people living in the continent could secure their futures. Whilst these career paths have been proven to lead to breakthroughs, it is imperative for people pursuing these paths to be hardworking, smart, trustworthy, honest and focused. As the popular saying goes, no pain, no gain
1. Further Education
The present narrative across the continent is that education is useless. However, we like to disagree on this. On the contrary, we believe the proper kind of education would lead to opportunities. Whilst further education is significant, it is more important that success is achieved whilst pursuing this education. The world is constantly in need of excellent students and opportunities abound for people who have proven their excellence in academic institutions
2. Online skill development:
The globalization of the world has made it easy for skills to be developed from any part of the world. With the advent of the internet, the development of any skill is as easy as a google search on the internet. Keywords like “Python for dummies” come with thousands of results on the search pages of any search engines. We implore our young people to utilize the internet for meaningful things rather than wasting time on frivolities which would not secure their futures. Examples of skills which could be developed include Coding, video editing, writing, software development, video production, search engine optimization, photography, blogging amongst so many others
3. Offline skill development.
The development of skills is not limited to just online skills. We understand that the internet may not be cheap for everyone across the continent and therefore would recommend the development of skills that do not require one to be online. These skills can be learnt as easily as taking a stroll to the nearest craftsman around you and enquiring about how you can develop the particular skill. Examples of offline skills which could be developed include barbing, hairdressing, motor repair, cake baking, bead making, phone and computer repair amongst so many others. A bit of caution to those intending to take this path, it is well known that so many artisans are known to be fraudulent therefore we implore whoever is taking this path to ensure that he or she is trustworthy. While the rewards that come with being trustworthy may not be obvious in the short term, the long term rewards would be bountiful
4. Sport and music:
Every day we tune in our television or phones and notice a lot of musicians and sports men making so much waves across the world. Music and sports are veritable ways in which young people living on the continent of Africa could make a living for themselves. It is important if one is pursuing any of these paths for the person to be steadfast in practice and training as there would be no short cuts to achieving success in this sector.
5. Social Media:
There’s virtually no young person today that isn’t on any form of social media be it Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc, our young people are very active on these platforms. Due to the presence of so many young people on these platforms, the platforms have become an avenue for young people to make a career for themselves. Titles such as influencers have become common for people who are able to influence people to make purchases on the internet. Common paths for this avenue which could lead to multiple followers include comedy, motivation, religion amongst others.
Governments across Africa have failed its people over the years. We cannot continue to wallow in poverty and continue to complain, young people on the continent must try to create income for themselves so as to liberate themselves, their families and possibly their generations from the shackles of poverty.
