Focus and hard work are the keys to success for a young entrepreneur interviewed by Musa Temidayo, 25, a Commonwealth Correspondent from Nigeria. Some people think it requires a lorry load of cash to start a successful and enduring business, but Dami Subair, CEO of DamoSmart, knows that with a positive great mind set and …
Social entrepreneurship provides ‘out of the box’ ideas for helping to uplift disadvantaged communities, writes Summaya Afaq, 24, a Commonwealth Correspondent from Karachi, Pakistan. When you ask a school-going kid about his future aspirations, the most expected reply is either to be a doctor or an engineer. I, too, always aspired to pursue a career …
High unemployment has turned many graduates to look to their own skills and resourcefulness to create income opportunities, writes Sola Abe, 24, a Correspondent from Lagos in Nigeria. As the challenge of high unemployment continues to plague Africa’s biggest economy and most populous country, Nigerian graduates are increasingly looking away from paid employment. The number …
A focus on the hours spent at work, rather than on the quality of work done during those hours, has created what Caitlyn Emma Lewis, 26, a Correspondent from South Africa now living in the UK, calls a ‘time-ocracy’ that rules the workplace. “Time” has been a constant throughout my life. With a mother who …
Youth unemployment won’t be solved by higher education or government policy alone, writes Lyn-Marie Blackman, 29, a Commonwealth Correspondent from Barbados, who urges youth to use a do-it-yourself attitude to solve problems and create jobs. As a Commonwealth Correspondent, I have always made the attempt to not only highlight the issues of the day but …
Tough times in the employment market mean it’s essential to support innovation in the marketplace, writes Mercy Zulu, 25, a Commonwealth Correspondent from Lusaka in Zambia, who argues it’s not too late for Zambia to catch up. Around March 2015, I walked passed a group of students engaged in a heated conversation involving the infamous jobless …
A hot debate topic in Africa centres on how the twenty-first century African youth can contribute to the growth of a continent in need of its young people to take it to another level. Alphonse Akouyu, 22, a Commonwealth Correspondent from Cameroon, reports on a conference designed to move #AfricaYouthFwd. The Future Forward partnership between Ashoka …
Gabriel Antwi, 23, a Correspondent from Ghana, talks to Miss Lugu, a student of University of Ghana who dreams of being an entrepreneur. She has started on that path with a venture on campus, selling coconut on a wholesale and retail basis. Gabriel: What is the name of your business? Lugu: The name of my business …
Many youth are competing for jobs or making ends meet as entrepreneurs, writes Carole Nyemeck, 23, a Commonwealth Correspondent from Cameroon, who reports there is a significant pool of social innovation talent. She looks at the business models needed to transform societal problems into sustainable entrepreneurial innovations. Since the beginning of the capitalist era, business models have clung …
The saying goes that “not all fingers are equal”. Some are born with a silver spoon while others create it for themselves. Gerald Nwokocha, 28, a Correspondent from Abuja, Nigeria, meets with several students who have devised ways of supporting themselves during schooling. Despite the economic downturn in Nigeria, most students engage in many meaningful activities on …