Inspire the younger ones

A familiar story I often hear from young people in Africa is about how there aren’t enough opportunities--not enough jobs, not enough capital to start a business, not enough scholarships, etc. I completely empathize with these millions of youth, who—despite having skills, passion and energy—just can’t seem to get a job or their business off the ground.

And the situation is only going to get worse: by 2035, Africa will have the largest workforce in the world—bigger than China’s or India’s. By that time, over 1 billion people on the continent will need jobs! Add to that the fact that as artificial intelligence and automation become more widespread, more and more jobs will be done by computers and machines--- which means even fewer jobs will be available for our burgeoning youth population.

So what can we do about this? One thing I know from my experience as an entrepreneur is that African youth have to be proactive: Existing companies will never be able to create the jobs we need. Our cash-strapped governments will not be able to provide all grants we need for startups. If you are young and looking for an opportunity today, I say this—you have to take matters into your own hands. And It doesn’t matter how great an idea you have, if you never act on it, it won’t matter. You just have to start.

I want to share with you a story of a young lady who is a shining example of what I am talking about:

Belinda Munemo was one of the students in our first class at the African Leadership Academy 10 years ago. When she first came to us from Zimbabwe, she dreamt of being a doctor. But after being exposed to the culture of entrepreneurship at ALA, she discovered that her true calling was to be an entrepreneur. She recalled the thrill of some of her prior experiences--at age 15, she had started selling fruits and vegetables. And at 16, she opened a DVD rental store. At ALA (where 100% of students have to go through a program on entrepreneurship and have to start something), she started a hair salon on campus called Pretty Peacocks (which still exists to this day!)

After she left ALA, Belinda knew she wanted to be an entrepreneur and ultimately discovered that her passion was to transform the education system in her country. So, she took it upon herself to start a school, in her early twenties. Bear in mind, she didn’t have much money or even land to construct the school---in fact, she started the school with only $700 and 5 students in her mother’s living room!

Fast forward to today. Belinda’s school, Reekworth Junior School, is thriving. She now has 4 campuses with 350 students strong---from a starting point of only $700. She just recently welcomed the first class to Reekworth High School. Belinda’s schools are no ordinary schools either. They teach students how to be creative thinkers and problem solvers—many things she learned at ALA. Her students are exposed to multiple languages, technology, and cultures and thought to think differently. And she has done all this in less than 5 years--remarkable!

Belinda’s story resonated with me because just like her, I first got exposed to entrepreneurship at an early age. At 16, I began selling second-hand shoes in my high school, and started organizing concerts and selling tickets. When I was 18, my mother opened a small school in a remote town of Botswana called Selebi Phikwe, with 5 children in a small space rented from the local church. The school was started with zero capital. That’s right—zero capital (we used the fees that the 5 parents paid us to pay the 1 teacher we had, to buy supplies, and to pay rent). That school today is one of the top performing schools in Botswana and has over 300 students as well. The experience I got from working on small entrepreneurial ventures all those years ago is what gave me the confidence to launch African Leadership Academy when I was 25 (which has so far educated 1000 young leaders for Africa) and to launch Global Leadership Adventures (which has so far taken 15,000 young people to programs in 30 sites around the world). Those two then gave me the confidence and experience to launch African Leadership University, whose goal is to produce 3 million leaders for the continent over the next 50 years.

Here are 2 key lessons you can learn from Belinda’s story:

1. Don’t wait for opportunities to come to you. If no one is offering you a job, create your own job and create jobs for others in your generation. Belinda did not wait for someone else to start a school and hire her so she could pursue her passion for education. She just went ahead and did it herself.
2. There are no excuses for not getting started on bringing your vision to life. Just work on your idea even when you don’t have money, a space to work, when people tell you you’re too young ---as long as you have the passion, you’ll figure out the rest later. Belinda started with almost no money and 5 students. Start small, build from there, and you’ll be amazed at how far you can go.

Many of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs also started young and with nothing more than dreams (which are free!). Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook in his dorm room when he was 18. Richard Branson started selling magazines when he was 16. The founders of Google were 21. Steve Jobs was 21 when he started Apple. In 1970, at the age of 15, Bill Gates and his pal, Paul Allen developed "Traf-o-Data," a computer program that monitored traffic patterns in Seattle, and netted $20,000 for their efforts. That experience gave them the confidence to start Microsoft later when Bill was just 20.

I’ve been to Silicon Valley and I can tell you that there is nothing special about the water they drink or the air that they breathe. If so many young people there can start companies that change the world and create millions of jobs—all just from dreams and with often little capital--then so can youth in Africa. In fact, we have no other choice. We don’t have much time. 2035 will be here before we know it. We just have to get started. Harnessing the power of youth—who have unlimited capacity to dream-- is one of the greatest opportunities of our lifetime!

What idea have you always had that you will bring to life TODAY? What can you do to encourage a young person with an idea to get started?