YOUTHS SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED TO FORM GROUPS

 One of the biggest dilemmas that youths face is the high rate of unemployment. Over 70% of Ugandans are below 30 years and with over 50 universities graduating about 300,000 graduates per year the job market is really limited. In order to cope with life a number of youths have resorted to short term mechanisms for survival. Some borrow from loan sharks to survive, other resort to gambling and others have sold off their property to go to the Middle East in search of greener pastures. It is no wonder that I met a group of " disgruntled youths" who said they no longer believe in education.

The government and other stakeholders are playing a critical role in creating a conducive role in ensuring that the youths who form the majority in the country can cope up with life. The interventions include Parish Development Model and reforming the education system. Having been in the financial literacy space of training youths, I have realized that the youths have a lot of potential but many times they work in isolation. This affects their ability to pool resources for development. The question is why should university graduates wait until they graduate to seek for capital? Some of the university students divert the upkeep they get from parents to luxuries they can save or invest part of it as a medium for raising capital for business. Why shouldn't university students start investment clubs as they learn pooling resources and working together when they are still at campus. I realized that after campus many students  do different directions . This makes them lose out on the connections that they have made over the years. 

The university students should be trained to form organized groups such as investment clubs, Savings, Credit and Cooperative Societies and Community Based Organizations. In particular there is an investment club that was formed by a group of university students and today it has invested in real estate and is worth billions in share capital. In Kenya the transport sector is dominated by the Chamas. So this is a great lesson that in a nation where youths lack access to traditional collateral such as Land title and sales agreement, groups are a viable vehicle to enable them pool resources for business expansion.

BENEFITS OF GROUPS 

1.Leadership development

2.Financial literacy training

3.Networking 

4.Resource mobilization

5.Skills development

6.Social Cohesion

Many youths assert that they lack adequate resources to either start or expand their businesses. Groups can be a viable intervention for them to pool resources as discussed above.

Phillip Kiryowa

Finance and Leadership Coach(PCC)

+256752615916

For Financial Freedom and Sustaible Businesses

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