The rate of unemployment in Africa is escalating at an alarming rate. A lot of graduates are roaming the streets and some end up doing what they didn’t even study for. Young people are raised to believe that if they can just be diligent, study hard in school and do well in their tertiary studies, they will get a good paying job and live the life of their dreams but what happens when they graduate is the exact opposite in most cases. What then can be the solution? Education is important and more and more young people should get trained in different disciplines but what should one do when they find themselves in a situation whereby they are well trained but cannot get employment?
What most young people have been doing lately is running their own businesses as a solution to their unemployment. There are a lot of pros and cons for doing that. Should one go into entrepreneurship out of desperation or should they do it out of passion? When they come across tough times will they be able to keep going and keep working on making sure that their business becomes a success or will they just throw in the towel because it is not what they wanted to do anyway in the 1st place? These are some of the questions that can come to one’s mind.
Entrepreneurship can become a solution to unemployment in Africa but everyone who wants to take that route should make sure that they are fully equipped. There is a huge need in different fields that can be filled by innovative young people. There is a huge need for social entrepreneurs; a huge need for agriculture based businesses and a huge need for technology related businesses just to name a few. If one finds themselves in a situation whereby they have done whatever it takes to look for a job but to no avail, they can just look for a need in their community that they can fill and make a business out of it. If done right, being your own business and running your own business is actually more rewarding than working for someone. So instead of blaming the government for unemployment young people should just go out there and find solutions for themselves and their peers. They should learn all they can learn about running a business successfully; there are so many free courses and free tips available online and they should just go for it.
What we can then see happening will be a group of young people who are operating successful businesses and creating employment and maybe, just maybe, the rate of unemployment will decrease. Africa is mostly dependent on natural resources so maybe if this can be done right, if young people can just stay focused and do their level best to build successful and sustainable businesses they can end up contributing massively to the economy of their own countries. It is evident that there are many brilliant young people in Africa. So many amazing ideas are discussed in social media. What is needed is for them to be empowered; for them to be encouraged to take all those ideas and turn them into reality; for them to be encouraged to stop depending too much on the government and start fending for themselves. Unemployment is a serious problem but entrepreneurship is one solution that young people can consider.
By;
Virginia Chepete
