Lessons for youth on creating jobs

With the number of unemployed youth on the rise, job creation is something more people should explore and here are a few tips on doing this.

Andrew Mupuya knows what it means to stick to a dream and follow it through, despite challenges. His dream was born in 2008 when the government announced that it was considering a ban on the use of polythene bags. Mupuya, then 16 years old, saw an opportunity in paper bag production and started with Shs36,000. Today, he supplies paper bags to big companies like Tuskys Supermarkets and various malls.

The question on how best youth can be empowered for job creation is one that still puzzles many. One, because many of the young people think employment is the conventional way to earn a living and two, because others look down on jobs that would otherwise earn them a respectable living.

At the recently concluded National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge, where Mupuya won Shs20m, a few answers were provided as the debate took shape. The 20-year-old behind Youth Entrepreneurial Link Investments (YELI) beat contenders to the accolade and cash prize for the innovative way he cut his teeth into this business, how he does business today, its viability and his dream for the business. Mupuya’s story and many like his, formed the basis of the discussion that evening, and a few lessons can be taken from what some of the speakers said.

1. Your attitude
The night’s host and event organiser, Nelson Tugume, said what determines your life is not the circumstances that you confront but how you choose to respond to those circumstances. He argued, “No one accomplished anything alone. Today, I want to recognise and acknowledge those people who have helped bring this initiative where it is today. First, I recognise and acknowledge, God. He deserves all the glory.”

2. Do not despise humble beginnings
Uganda’s Managing Director of Coca-Cola, Norton Kingwill, argued that youth should accept humble beginnings and grow their business. He quoted the story of Dr John Pemberton, a pharmacist from Atlanta who formulated a black coloured drink, called Coca-cola. “This drink was sold in Jacobs Pharmacy at a rate of nine drinks per day, and generated $50 [about Shs130,000] in revenues, in the first year. The formulation was bought from Dr Pemberton by a gentleman called Asa Candler, in 1887. He started the expansion across the US and the development of the bottling franchise system,” Kingwill explained about the humble beginnings of one of the biggest soft drinks, Coca-Cola.

He said from those humble beginnings, the Coca Cola system has now grown into a business that operates in over 200 countries, has 600,000 direct employees and created employment for more than six million people through its value chain. He added, “From the one product in 1886, Coca-Cola now has more than 3,500 products and 16 of its brands are valued at $1b (about Shs2.5t). The Coca-Cola system sells 1.8b servings per day – that’s a lot of drinks.”

3. Start small, grow big
Any idea, belief, passion, enthusiasm, hard work and lots of dreaming big, starts small and then grows. This was another piece of advice Kingwill gave the audience. He said, “We need to look for opportunities and take these – be entrepreneurial, take risks, be innovative. And then the most important ingredient of success, we need to put in the effort – long hours, sacrifices, risk taking.”

4. You have the power
Although the main guest, President Museveni did not attend, he made his thoughts known through his speech that was read for him by the Gender, Labour and Social Development minister, John Nasasira. President Museveni borrowed a quote from Sonya Friendman: “You have control over three things: what you think, what you say, and how you behave. To make a change in your life, you must recognise these gifts are the most powerful tools you possess in shaping your future life.”

5. Look for where the demand is
The President also talked about how the youth should go out to seek opportunities where others see what you would call problems.
“These three things, unemployment, poverty and food insecurity imply that there is demand or need for services. Therefore, one has to identify the opportunities for meeting that demand effectively. This demands innovation and creativity,” he said.
He added, “The poor are often surrounded by opportunities that they don’t see. These may take the form of natural resources (good rains, fertile soils, etc); tourism attractions (the diverse cultures, waterfalls, historic sites, etc); urban congestion (lack of houses, internet cafes, waste disposal, health clinics, hair saloons, etc) with associated demand for affordable services.”
His advice was that there is need for a new and different way of doing things, of delivering services, and this demands creative leadership in those sectors. He also stated: “The dependence and the entitlement mentality, and especially among the youth, must be eradicated.”

6. Don’t go far from home
Francis Okomo-Okello a lawyer by profession, and Chairman of Tourism Promotion Services, Eastern Africa Limited (Serena Group of Hotels and Lodges) was one of the people giving lessons to the youth.
Okomo-Okello says youths today don’t have to look for these opportunities and ideas. “Everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of our economy calls for action, bold and swift. We need to create new jobs and to lay a new foundation for growth. We need to create a new business dispensation for Africa, so that all people will realise their dream,” he noted.

7. New ideas rule the day
Okomo-Okello, added that we cannot achieve success by looking back. “If we are to address 21st century challenges, we must run away from 20th century strategies and embrace 21st century approaches,” he said.
Tugume said, with the opening of the East African borders into a common market it is time to time to move beyond our petty differences, find ways to confront our shared past, mourn our losses, learn from our mistakes, ask for and receive forgiveness and commit to standing as one voice, one vision one goal and one object. “We must move beyond tribal and class affiliations and begin to see ourselves as citizens of the world. We must think and act from a global perspective,” he encouragingly said.
It now remains up to the Ugandan youth to open their eyes to the opportunities and challenges alike.

rbatte@ug.nationmedia.com