BY POPOOLA KAZEEM
African
youths, despite the myriads of odds ravaging the continent have the potentials
to initiate a massive drive in the technological development of the continent.
Recent statistics have indicated a rise from 778milllion up to about 1billion
mobile subscribers expected by the end of September 2015 which is in contrast
to the present level of backwardness and poverty faced by a larger percentage
of the African population who live less than $2 per day.
The
technological potentials of African youths have manifested over time in the
series of surges observed in a number of business and e-commerce online stores
such as Nigeria’s Jumia and Konga and other mobile payment systems including Cellulant
owned which is by Bolaji Akinboro and Ken Njoroge from Nigeria and Kenya
respectively.
Government
encouragements and supports are the only proven recipes for improvements.
Africa is faced by massive deterioration in infrastructure, education, power, absence
of enabling environment for small businesses, corruption which has crept into
almost all sectors of the economy. There is also a lack of proper institution
to tackle the problems of inaccurate data collation and storage partly caused
by a high illiteracy level as observed in the inability of most African
families to provide required information to relevant institutions during census
and other national planning programs of various African countries. African
leaders must wake up to their responsibilities and invest massively in relevant
sectors of their economies including education, infrastructural development, agriculture,
power, creation of enabling environment
for businesses, growth policies and
intense fight against endemic corruption. Putting these in place will provide
the enabling atmosphere required by youths to thrive in their pursuits of
aggressive technological growth and an overall improvement in the condition of
living. Indeed Africa has so much to gain from a vibrant technology-driven
economy.
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