Young people between the ages 12 and 27 (born between 1997 and 2012) known as Gen Z or Generation of Zoomers have been making headlines especially in Kenya where they have staged some strikes forcing the president to recall a contentious financial bill and sacking his entire cabinet. The Gen Zs have been praised for their bravery and for demanding for accountability and taking part in actions that lead to better governance.
Organizing of the strike is said to have been done online with young people taking to their smartphones to post their displeasure before they went on the streets and even managed to overrun parliament and capture the speaker’s mace. It was an encore of the Arab Spring that swept across north Africa leaving some regimes like that of Gaddafi and Hosni Mubarak toppled. Perhaps that is why William Ruto was quick to concede to the demands of the Gen Z and try to restore order.
One of the concessions he made was to have a live discussion with the young people on a platform they love — X (formerly Twitter). The audio debate, similar to ones on radio, attracted more than six million people, perhaps one of the biggest such X-Space debates in the region.
Many of the young people on these platforms claim that they don’t have jobs and have realized that their leaders instead live unprecedented opulent lives at their expense. That is why they took action and they must be commended for being such good organisers of themselves.
The issues of course that led to the strikes in Kenya exist almost everywhere on the African continent. High taxes, corruption, lack of opportunity, poor service delivery. Unemployment is the order of the day. Poverty stinks everywhere you turn. Africa is the youngest continent in the world but also the poorest.
Inspired by what happened in Kenya, Ugandan youths (and not so youths) took to the streets demanding the resignation of the Parliamentary Speaker among other demands. Police threw many of them in coolers.
I know that it is the government’s responsibility to create sustainable jobs for their people and they should not be absolved whatsoever but isn’t there something young people can do?
One thing that is clear is that they can organize themselves and achieve even impossible tasks such as having a president sack his entire cabinet. Through that ability to organize they could also create sustainable jobs using the skills they already have and others they can easily acquire.
If they can have six million people tune into an X-Space, what would happen if they made it frequent such as a weekly Space where they discuss particular issues. And if six million people keep tuning in, government, companies and development organisations will want to tap into that audience thereby attracting advertising revenue. This is the radio of the future and one needs only an internet connected smartphone to set up.
The Space would create a few sustainable jobs for the hosts, researchers, sales executives, producers and the entire value chain. And most importantly, others would be able to promote their hustles on the platform thereby significantly growing their businesses.
Similarly, a YouTube channel could be created where similar content is shared. WhatsApp is another where similar channels could be created. The Status function of WhatsApp is known to be popular where content could be shared that lead to increased sales and engagement.
The digital skills the Gen Z have exhibited could also be used to make some of the people content creators and influencers. There is also a lot of work in the digital economy that the Gen Z can be able to do.
Many businesses need marketing services and if people are on digital platforms, they need people who can help them reach those particular audiences.
Graphic designers behave like most carpenters and tailors — you can’t be sure when they will hand in the work and if such work will meet your expectations. Many young people can easily do graphic designs using freely available platforms like Canva. Clients that the Gen Z can support may not even be in Africa. They can be anywhere in the world and willing to pay in foreign currency.
However, there is a need for skilling because opportunities in the digital space may not always be as obvious as they seem. Young people’s minds need to be opened to these opportunities. Also, customer care is crucial and that includes one learning to keep their word and time.
Governments should not be scared to invest in this space by skilling young people. If young people have decent sustainable jobs, they will be less interested in strikes.
Government will, however, collect more revenue from them in terms of taxes directly and indirectly as they consume other services and a plethora of goods at their disposal (and hopefully keep the revenue out of the hands of the corrupt). Telecom and data service providers will be smiling to the bank and thereby investing more funds in emerging technologies like 5G.
After their achievements in Kenya, the Gen Z should not sit on their laurels thinking that only the government will make them realize their dreams. They will have to do certain things themselves.
The writer is a communication and visibility consultant.
djjuuko@gmail.com
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