The last untapped resource in Africa

What comes to your mind whenever the word ‘youth’ is mentioned? Is it the high rate of youth unemployment? Crime associated with youth, drugs, diseases, lack of education or poverty? As I grew up in the small town of Makueni county in the eastern part of Kenya, I used to hear of stories like, ‘young people are the leaders of tomorrow’- however one wonders, why not leaders of today? I bet you this is the same song in the present time.

Three years ago when I was a youth volunteer at my home county of Makueni, I had the chance to interact with young people and got to know the challenges faced by the young people in Africa. Challenges such as lack of basic education and jobs, including human trafficking on labor to our young boys and girls. It is a fact that in Africa, young people can trade for anything just to get a job. People hardly consider talents when seeking for any form of jobs or employment. It is even worse if you have neither godfather nor guidance.

There is the other side of the coin where talents are hardly recognized among African youth. Africa has raw talent when it comes to music, art, sport activities, leadership roles, good performance in education, young entrepreneurs you name them. It is amazing that there is untapped talent among young people in Africa. This begs the question, just who is responsible? Is it our leaders who in fact misuse the youth by giving them handouts? Or is it time the same leaders get to provide our young people with the necessary platforms to tap their talents and hence make a living out of those talents? Your guess is as good as mine.

You will bear me witness that there is an urgent need to contribute sufficiently to Africa’s long-term development by engaging the time and talent of young people in Africa. We can’t just sit down and wait to see our ‘home-grown’ talent vanish in thickness. Something ought to be done. Believe you me, if young people had the resources and the necessary platform to showcase their talents- they would in turn use their talents to make ends meet.

On the other hand, for young people to make a difference in life- there is need for change through entrepreneurship, innovation, creativity and leadership. A good example is ‘African Tutor’- a social enterprise that I launched late last year and is making the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation among young people in Kenya become a reality. This social enterprise is not only creating jobs for graduates to become tutors, but also offering students’ academic resources such as information on scholarship opportunities, fellowships, jobs and internships through our online platform.

With youth empowerment, young people in Africa can transform the continent to a whole new level. This will enable young people develop new approaches to leadership and in the process act as a regional knowledge bank and resource center.

Lastly but not least, a word for the wise: Young people need to be aggressive and make use of every opportunity that comes their way. Always remember that the sky is the limit. The time for sitting down and waiting for ‘manna’ from heaven is long gone. Wake up; use your talents to transform Africa for it starts with you and me. It is our ultimate responsibility.

#Africa #Kenya #Education #Youth