Research asserts that Africa’s population is the youngest in the world. Almost 60% of Africa’s 1.4 billion population is under the age of 25. According to the Mo Ibrahim foundation’s report – In 2020, Africa’s population under 35 represents almost a billion people (540.8 million 0-14 year olds and 454.5 million 15-34 year olds), amounting to 22.7% of the world’s total youth population, the second largest after Asia’s (58.0%). Africa’s youth is one of its greatest assets. However, the continent struggles to train its youth with the necessary skills required to service the African economy.
The wealth of a nation is strongly tied to its people. Every thriving organization understands that investing in its people is the way to win. You build people and then people build the business.
The King of Civilization: Monetary System
Not too long ago President Macron of France said he will invite young Africans to his One Planet biodiversity summit in Paris, not political leaders. Since my father was born there have been “meetings” to develop Africa. It seems slow, however, we are well on our way. I have heard and seen many summits, prayers, and arguments that focus on improving Africa and providing opportunities for the African youth. These days political leaders can use “opportunities for the African youth” to get favorable votes. The continent is hungry!
Each year, an estimated 30 million young people join the employment market. However, to benefit from the opportunities offered by the emergence of new enterprises, we must address the skills gap among Africa’s youth. It’s not enough for our youths to turn into speculative crypto traders who simply gamble with money. What about developing skills that will serve the continent? The trend in cryptocurrency and the financial gain is attractive but we are more than that. Understandably the youths are looking for a way out of poverty. We put up a brief guide for youths willing to escape poverty through technology skill acquisition. See A Right Way to Get into Tech :: Career
What can we do?
Pop culture and social media have influenced some young people into moving away from very lucrative African industries which are perceived as outdated, hard work, and unprofitable. I do not want to dabble into a debate of how some investments we sing praises about in the African continent are actually shooting us in the foot. Looking at the way money works, considering the trade deficit, and valuation of most African currency we can see that bulk of the return on investment doesn’t return to the continent. It’s easy to celebrate some investment deals as laudable until you look deeper. I could recommend NFTs (non-fungible tokens) – unique digital assets built on blockchain that represents ownership of real-world items like art, video clips, music, and more. But we are not talking about anything that involves FX(Foreign Exchange) for now. Most Africans participating in FX-based businesses don’t remit taxes to the African government. Let’s look at industries that help the trade deficit and currency valuation. It’s important to understand that the success of a continent is not a state, but a process.
Participate in agriculture
There are promising opportunities in agriculture. The media barely covers this sector. Entrepreneurs with the proper structure are cashing out. The government is to develop and invest in strategies to support the youth demographic to seize the opportunities in agriculture. The government is doing this already at different levels. The activities here need more repackaging and publicity.
There is a technology company, Hello Tractor, that uses mobile technology to improve the accessibility of tractors for smallholder farmers by connecting them with local tractor owners from whom they can hire machines at an affordable price. There are other organizations that connect farmers with consumers. The innovation in this space is growing. The agriculture space needs more players. It will help those sleeping to wake up. Competition is good for innovation.
A Nigerian start-up, ColdHubs, has helped farmers increase income by 25%. How? The company extends the freshness of perishable food from 2 -21 days. ColdHubs set up solar-powered refrigeration units in markets and on farms that allow farmers, wholesalers, and retailers to preserve, store and transport their products more easily. Thriving in agriculture is beyond building an app or creating a website that explains what you do. The structure and network have to be right
How do I start, where do I begin? Get in touch for guidance. We can connect you to players in the industry.
Invest in local startups to support youth development
According to @TechPointIntel, the total announced funding deals in Africa for the month of August 2021 is $533.3 million. Nigeria was responsible for over 90% of the amount raised on the continent. OPay’s $400 million Series C round accounted for 75% of the total amount. Obviously, FinTech is very attractive. And we are still at the early stage of this rapidly expanding market. But most of these investments came from other continents. The returns on investment, app server fees, app tooling, etc will be spent in other continents; developing them further. Now the value of the Naira is weak, it makes these deals incredibly cheap. Of course, these investments create economic activities in Africa. However, it will be great for local investors to cash in at least. If you invest in a startup during its early days, where you get good equity at low cost, you’d have a good return on investment when the startup raises Series A funding. Some local investors and consortiums have benefited from this. Most of them don’t make noise. They are making more money than some international businessmen.
If ten young people invest 5 million (Naira) in a project with a solid team they are more likely to have good returns than they would have they used the money in buying cars.
You can check local hubs and incubators for juicy projects or startups to invest in. I understand that people barely touch what they don’t understand. You can’t get all the answers to every question. Africa needs risk-takers now. Our clock is ticking. There are so many talents wasting while businessmen with funds are looking for tangible offerings or clarity. Local investors have to take the bull by the horn by taking this necessary risk. How do I shop for startups or small businesses to invest in? Get in touch for guidance.
Skillup
Nigerians, for instance, thrive on the service economy. The infrastructural challenges leave Nigerians with services as the best alternative. The African continent has bright minds. But brilliance isn’t enough. The youth needs to skillup to meet the rising demand and challenges of the continent and beyond.
I heard that India holds 55% of global IT outsourcing share. The service industry in India accounts for approximately 55.9% of GDP between 2019 and 2020. Among the leading services industries in the country are telecommunications, IT, and software, and the workers are employed by both domestic and international companies. In India, the net export of software services for 2020 is $77.65 billion. India has a high population of skilled, English-speaking, and educated people. The population of software engineers in Africa is increasing. It’s one thing to have skills and it’s another thing to be culturally fit. A few months ago we were interviewing software engineering talents for a startup in the US. We had engineers from top Nigerian banks. But the client wouldn’t pick any. Most of the engineers lagged in technical skill, soft skills, and cultural fitness. There are a plethora of platforms organizations use these days to vet service-based talents. It’s very important to improve communication skills and other soft skills.
See A Right Way to Get into Tech :: Career and Meet Nseobot, A Data Analyst :: Chemical Engineering Graduate
About TechAssembly
TechAssembly is a technology development company that works on digital transformation, tech skill acquisition, and tech talent acquisition. TechAssembly specializes in communication solutions, economic tech, FinTech, business solutions, Web and Mobile development (One Stop Shop for all technology development needs).
Our clientele includes funded start-ups and SMEs, some of which are within and outside Africa.
Get in touch for guidance. Or email us at hello@techassembly.co
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