FINANCIAL LITERACY & PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

 We live in a generation where everything is desired in an instant. Instant foods. Instant grades among others. But is great success achieved overnight? Recently I met a youth who told me that he had given up on his business since it was not making profits. Most of the great companies started small. These include Equity Bank, Grameen Bank, Google, Apple and KFC. Today they are multi billion companies employing thousands of people and contributing to the global economy. Most of the greatest entrepreneurs face failure but they have a never give up attitude. They see failure as an opportunity to learn and raise the bar.  For the last 5 years I have been in the business of mentoring youths in grassroot financial literacy training . What I have found out is that most of the youths have a lot of potential but lack the mentorship to achieve their goals. Many are living below their potential because they lack guidance. We cannot develop and transform our continent when most of the you...

 Everybody desires financial freedom. There is this particular university student who missed his exams because he gambled his tuition. This is not an isolated case. Many youths today are in the trap of living beyond their means. Many use their peers as a benchmark for spending. There are even youths who have a saying that what if they die and leave their money behind. I think that is fatalistic thinking that cannot produce generational wealth. If all the wealthy people who have built big companies had a live for today mindset then the world would be in trouble. Today a number of youths view money as a tool for spending. This has also not saved corporates. If a corporate viewed their salary as a seed for wealth creation we would see less financial stress. Am I trying to live in self denial? Perhaps not. I am addressing a critical issue that I see everyday as a grassroot financial literacy trainer/ coach.  Some of the financial troubles that we face are a result of the failure t...

 There is no society that is devoid of resources. There is no person without capacity. Countless books that I have read have showed me that mindset is one of the greatest weapons for financial deliverance. For the past 5 years I have been providing grassroot financial literacy training especially among the youths. It has come to my attention that Ugandans have a lot of potential but most of it is still hidden. The elite have a lot of work to do to transform their country. Almost every youth wants to sell off their land to go for greener pastures. The question is who will develop Uganda if all the youths vacate their motherland? In a nation where over 70% of the population it is important that the youths are trained to focus on opportunities that are prevailing in their nation rather than focusing on problems. The other day a university student missed exams because he gambled his tuition. Gambling has made many able youths drop out of school. Today we live in a generation of youths ...

 We are at a crossroads as a nation. A number of gradates are losing hope in why they graduated. Recently I interacted with a group of university students and asked them where they will be after graduation . Their responses were not very appealing. It is important to redefine why students are at university. Without knowing the clear purpose of something it is bound to be abused. It is not surprising to find a graduate doing "nothing" despite having graduated with good academic grades. It is critical that a graduate takes time to reflect about the relevance of his degree to the world.  The question is, if a school dropout can positively impact the world, what on earth can stop a graduate from making an impact in their community. Today a number of graduates fear their own brilliance. Without taking stock of the previous academic certificates , a number of them rush to pursue more studies without first using the previous knowledge. Is it bad to amass more knowledge? The answer i...

 As an activist for youth employability it has come to my attention that a number of university students require personal mentorship and guidance if they are to benefit from their stay at university. At a recent seminar that I presented to first year students at a certain university I was shocked when I asked the students to name their top 3 goals why they were at university and it seemed a " tough" task. One may quickly assume that simply because a student has joined university they have a clear purpose beyond the classroom That is far from the truth. A certain student almost got a retake when he did not put much attention to the assignment that they had been given. Instead he used most of his time to chat with friends. The marks he got were a wakeup call for him to work harder. I have also realized after interacting with a number of university students that many are not aware of how volatile the job market is. One of the greatest fears of any graduate should be lacking a jo...

 We are at a crossroads as a country. Almost everyday I receive a call from a recent graduate how they can maneuver the tough employment terrain. It is a dream of every graduate to attain a decent job. Graduates spend sleepless nights to read and pass exams only to find the real job world a real nightmare.  Where as there are a few lucky ones who are head hunted by big organizations not everyone is lucky. Today the job market is very competitive. In the past getting a first class degree made a lot of headlines but today it is very common to find a first class student doing "nothing " because there are not enough jobs. I saw a news session where a section of medical students were requesting for government to enable them to look for jobs abroad. In the past we knew that pursing a degree in traditional courses such as Medicine, Engineering and Law were shortcuts to employment. This is no longer the case because of the rise in population and the number of universities. This shows...