Africa is a third-world-filled continent, and despite being the most developing continent in the world, it faces one of the biggest unemployment problems. The continent has a population of 1.4 billion people and has 54 official countries. It has the youngest population in the world, with 70% of sub-Saharan Africa under 30. There is a median age of 19.7 years in Africa. Such a high number of young people is an opportunity for the continent’s growth.
The young continent has these major challenges:
- Unemployment is both educated and uneducated
- Drugs and substance abuse
- Insecurities and vandalism
This article focuses on “educated unemployment” and how cryptocurrency in Africa answers it.
Educated unemployment in Africa
Educated unemployment occurs when an educated person cannot find a suitable and efficient job for themselves. It happens for various reasons, but the most popular one is the lack of employment opportunities. According to the Accra-based African Center for Economic Transformation, a policy think tank, up to 50% of African university graduates do not get jobs. In Kenya alone, there is an excess of over 300,000 unemployed graduates. Economic development is lagging as most countries’ creative labour is walking around. This problem is slowly ending as creative youths find their way into self-employment. Creative modes of livelihood and survival are springing up every day, and this is where cryptocurrency comes in.
Cryptocurrency and employment effect
Cryptocurrency has its most holders in Africa in Kenya. 90% of crypto users in Africa are the youth. When this technological opportunity presented itself in Africa, it solved the unemployment issue of the educated unemployed. Youths are now venturing into crypto as a source of income through various income-earning ways. Some of these are:
- Trading
- Crypto enthusiasts paid by crypto platforms
- Innovation and inventions
- Investing in crypto
- Blog writers etc.
The opportunities are many, and the African youths are benefitting hugely. Maximising crypto adoption and regulation by the government is now the only remaining step in Africa. There is also a group of online workers in Africa that has risen and is earning in crypto. They can now work internationally as the means of payment is available and instant. Youths are organising campaigns and pilot training systems that promote crypto spread in Africa. These are positive steps leading to a more stable Africa as means of earning are diversified enough.
