WHO WILL STAY IN THE COUNTRY?

 Uganda's population is mainly a youthful population. Over 70% of the population is below 30 years . One of the biggest challenges that youths face is lack of access to dignified employment opportunities. I have interacted with a number of youths because it is my passion to empower youths especially in the area of enabling them to access dignified employment opportunities .One of my observations is that many of them would seek to go abroad for greener pastures. It is not a bad thing to go abroad but if it is a predominant mindset of the majority of the population(the youths) ,then there is a cause for an alarm. Imagine a scenario where all medical doctors have plans of leaving the country for greener pastures, the future of the country would be at stake. 

The youthful age is very risk taking and very ambitious. They want more money which seems to be "hard  to get" in their own country. This explains why many youths sell off their property and borrow heavily to acquire transport to go to their dream land(mainly the Middle East). Iam not saying it is bad to go abroad but from another perspective can't we reorient the youth to use their entrepreneurial skills to earn a living and contribute to the development of their country.

In his book Positioning Africa for the 21st Century, Dr. James Magara notes that countries such as Singapore and Botswana may not be very resource endowed but they invested in their people and today they are far much developed than Uganda .What is the missing link in Uganda?

Uganda's youths need to be empowered to seek opportunities in their motherland. The Indians and Chinese come to Uganda and see opportunities where natives see potholes and wasteland. On a number of occasions I have witnessed able bodied youths drank early in the morning. Last year on the news I saw a group of youths who wanted to beat up staff of a sports betting company in Busia for failing to pay their "Return on Investment" .The youths are facing so many socio economic pressures and the effects are spreading to the rest of society. Those who are working can not be safe in a society where many youths are unemployed. Society is becoming more insecure especially at night where there are many stories of innocent people that have lost their property to iron bar robbers. This state of affairs needs to be addressed. The other day a young man went to a home and cut young children with a panga after seeking a ransom from the parents. All these cases are indicators of disillusionment among a number of youths .

HOW TO CREATE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE YOUTHS.

1.Emphasis on skilling youths. The government is doing a good job in creating an enabling environment for skilling the youths and certifying them through the Directorate of Industrial Training(DIT). The youths must appreciate that vocational skills enhance employability compared to traditional courses.

2.Mindset change is key. A youth who appreciates their value will not wait for government to create  a job for them. They will seek for opportunities for themselves. The youths must be trained to see opportunities rather than problems in every situation.

3. Financial literacy training is critical in enabling youths to use their resources productively for the benefit of society as a whole. Commercial banks such as Equity are at the forefront of providing free financial literacy training to communities especially to youths and women. These initiatives can enable youths to become agents of positive change.


By and large Uganda is a predominantly young country. Over 70% of Ugandans are below 30 years. As a question posed above shows who will stay in the country if all the youths prefer to go abroad for greener pastures? The solutions are many but a few are highlighted above.


Phillip Kiryowa

Finance and Leadership Coach

+256752615916

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THRIVING AMIDST UNEMPLOYMENT

 Ask any graduate what their worst night mare is and they will inform you that lack of access to a dignified employment opportunity is a big hurdle. Over 70% of Ugandans are below the age of 30 years of age. There are very many reasons why the unemployment rate needs to be addressed. Uganda has over 30 universities and all universities graduate over 300,000 graduates per year yet the formal sector produces on average 70,000 jobs. This mismatch is an indicator of the frustrations that the young people face. It was on media last year when I saw a group of able bodied youths who wanted to beat up staff of a sports betting company for failing to pay for their "Return on Investment" in Bugiri District. Iam not saying that all youths are involved in crime .What am trying to point out is that the probability of a youth without a job being involved in crime is high( after all there is a saying that an idle mind is a devil's workshop). Just this year there was youth who was killed
Read more

A SAVINGS PLAN CAN AID IN FINANCIAL ADVANCEMENT

 I remember during the Trainer of Trainers training conducted by Bank of Uganda we were encouraged to develop a savings plan. This was a key development because without a plan we may live in financial darkness. In my years of providing financial literacy across the country especially youths I have observed that the intangible practices that may be undermined play a big role in the big picture. I have been asked a question, "how can one save yet their needs exceed their income?. It is a tough question but the best practice remains that even in the hardest of circumstances we should prioritize saving .This is because we do not know what the future holds. As humans we forget so fast. Who remembers during the lock down of Covid-19 when people were not working. Life was extremely tough. It was an opportunity to reflect about the importance of savings during good times. A savings plan enables a person to determine why they are saving. It could be for school fees, buying a plot, a car an
Read more

CELEBRATE YOUR VALUE ON THIS LABOR DAY

As we celebrate International Labor Day,70% of Uganda's population is below the age of 30 years. One of the biggest challenges of youths is access to dignified employment opportunities. So many youths have lost in their ability to find work and we have seen cases where they commit crime in order to survive. A case in point is a clip I saw on social media where a man who had panga cut innocent children after asking for a ransom from the parents . Such tragic incidents show us that lack of access to dignified employment opportunities makes people lose their sense of value. The starting point in raising hope among the youths is to inform them that with or without a formal job they have value. It is only people who know their value that can make a meaningful contribution to the world. The late Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years but he had hope for another day. The late Dr. Myles Munroe was born in a poor family in Bahamas but by the time of his death, he was an international pr
Read more