In the 21st century, every country ought to have put in place mechanisms that will provide a humble time for prosperity of its citizens; however, this is not the case, there are still several challenges most countries face such as lack of employment and illiteracy. The advancement of technology especially in the ICT sector has presented various viable opportunities that youths can explore to better their future, ICT may not be the sole solution to eradicate poverty in the developing world but it’s worth an effort.
It’s a shame several countries pay little attention to Information Communication Technology (ICT) innovations given the potential it possess in addressing modern challenges faced by unemployed youths across the world. The use of ICT in the developing world to empower and create jobs for youth generations ought to be explored and pursued vigorously if governments’ intent to drastically eradicate unemployment related problems; it is and should be considered as a key tool in propelling countries towards economic growths.
Recent statistics indicate youths constitute more than half of the world’s population; 81 million are unemployed as per 2008 statistics representing an additional 7.8 million compared to the year before. To make it even worse, 87 percent of the world’s youths are said to reside in the developing nations where employment opportunities are scarce and limited. However, by embracing ICT, governments will be able to provide youths with greater prosperity space through innovations and exploitation of the global market place.
ICT has presented the developing world with employment opportunities for youths inform of outsourcing, online entrepreneurial opportunities and so on; big corporations abroad prefer outsourcing services to firms in the developing world as it is economical than hiring in-house employees. Apparently, it would be costly to hire employees and pay them monthly remunerations plus benefits such as travel allowance, medical cover and retirement benefits than just outsource those services to offshore firms where there is low cost of production and cheap labor.
Entrepreneurial opportunities include selling products and services online as well as working for offshore companies from home, these services may include data entry, transcription and taking surveys. On the other hand, youths can sell goods from their own online stores and accept payments via recognized global payments solutions providers such as MasterCard Visa and PayPal. In addition, they can set up affiliate accounts or become resellers and promote products on their websites while earning commissions from sales.
Youths can also explore ICT opportunities that are not necessarily online oriented such as mobile payments solutions in the vast mobile telephony industry.
