What next after graduation!

Last week was all festivities around the country as over 3000 students completed their studies at National University of Rwanda. My hearty congratulations to all the graduates!With the excitement of being done with sleepless nights and endless exams comes the apprehension about the job market ahead. The numbers continent-wide might be a little depressing: Youth aged 15 to 25 represent sixty percent of the continent’s population but account for forty-five percent of the total labor force, in fact youth unemployment sits at over twenty percent. Ironically, the grim figures do not reflect the rate of the growth on the continent in any way – in fact Africa has outperformed the rest of the world over the last decade, weathering the global recession. Strange that the youth population is being left behind even though trends show that education of the youth is growing. What happens with an economy whose youth are unemployed and frustrated? Well, ask Egypt and Tunisia! Creating an environment that accommodates the youth with a sustainable growth strategy is obviously important to ensure political stability, especially on this continent where the number of young people will double by 2045. And this is the point where I thank the Heavens I am Rwandan! I don’t know of any other African country where people who don’t have fond recollections of the “day we got our Independence” have such boundless opportunities. Unlike most on this continent, Rwanda recognizes the tremendous potential offered by its youth. However, we may fall a bit short when it comes to the existence of a competitive private sector. Given Rwanda’s population growth rate, we urgently need to upsize the public sector which would serve as the most important source of jobs for the youths. The World Bank identified the lack of sufficient job creation as one of the biggest hurdles for the youths currently. This reality is part of the Rwandan narrative unfortunately. It takes only six hours to register your company but access to finance is an entirely different story for the youths, especially as they have no collateral. It doesn’t help that there is limited access and exposure to angel investors or venture capitalists that are willing to gamble on various ambitious ideas. Left with not many options beyond the old-school “bootstrapping”, it is no wonder we are still “job seekers”. But what does all this mean to the 3200 graduates who walked the podium last week? You are fortunate to live in a country where your talents are valued. You also have the opportunity, the support and the resources to have a hand in your career path – there is no better time to carve it out for yourself. With the numerous developments in Rwanda, you hold the key to being beacons of change and creating a demand-driven, private-sector-driven economy that stands out from the rest of the continent. Prost! All the best to you!