Africa Unfiltered: The Harsh Reality We Can't Ignore

And Why Education Is NOT the Solution

Let’s talk bluntly about the state of Africa today.

Africa remains the poorest region in the world. In 2020, the extreme poverty rate in sub-Saharan Africa was 41%—nearly 5X higher than the global average of 8.5%.  

In fact, the World Bank estimates that over half of the world’s extreme poor reside in sub-Saharan Africa. That means 443 million Africans live in extreme poverty. 

To put this in perspective: Imagine every single citizen in the United States was living in extreme poverty. Now add 100 million more people. THAT is the state of Africa, today.

In 2017, only 43% of adults in sub-Saharan Africa had a bank account. 

In 2020, only 43% of the population had access to electricity. That’s horrendous when you compare it to the global average of 90%.

Africa’s share of global merchandise exports stands at a mere 2.9%. What?! We live on the second largest continent, yet we export such a small percentage of the world’s goods?

Africa is by far the youngest region of the world, yet it has high levels of youth unemployment. History shows that unemployed young men are a source of potential violence, and if African economies are not able to employ these youth, not only will Africa remain poor, but the potential for violent outbreaks will continue. 

And violence is nothing new for our people. Africa has suffered proportionally more civil conflicts than other regions in the world since the 1960s. 

If this scenario sounds bleak, that’s because it is. There’s no sugar-coating the statistics. 

But it doesn’t have to be this way. 

Africa contains trillions of dollars in natural resources, a population bursting with untapped talent, and some of the most hard-working, visionary entrepreneurs I’ve ever met. We are perfectly poised for prosperity. 

Students attending a course at the University of Ghana.  Photo: ©Dominic Chavez/World Bank

So what’s the problem? 

Well, many nice people would suggest that a lack of education is to blame. But according to Kelvin Balogun, the president of Coca-Cola–Central, East, and West Africa, almost half of the ten million college graduates churned out of the over 668 universities in Africa yearly do NOT get a job when they’re done.  

Let me say that again: nearly 5 million African college graduates cannot get a job—each and every year! 

Compounded over time, you’re looking at an incredible waste of talent.

What’s even more concerning is the fact that the more educated a young African person is, the higher the rates of unemployment they experience:

Chart via ILOSTAT.

This fact alone proves that more education is not a solution to the youth unemployment problem in Africa. 

So, I ask again, What’s the problem? 

When you get right down to it, it’s not that complicated: Africans need JOBS! 

There’s nowhere for these bright young people to go when they graduate. The NGOs and governments can absorb only so many university graduates. 

In poor nations most people never search for work; they’re engaged in agricultural labor, resource extraction, or are “hustling”—doing whatever they can to bring in money: selling on the street, in the market, begging, prostitution, etc.

Jobs—legitimate jobs!—remain the best way for people to raise themselves out of poverty. 

If we want to shift the economic paradigm in Africa, more education won’t cut it. We have to create real opportunities through jobs, businesses, innovation, and economic stability. 
—Magatte Wade

Now let’s talk about the #1 reason why there are no jobs: 

Many African governments make it next to impossible for entrepreneurs to start a business, much less to run one with ease.

I know from experience. Even though my life’s mission is creating prosperity in Africa through entrepreneurship, I'll be the first to admit that there have been times when I’ve felt like calling it quits—over some of the stupidest stuff! 

Just trying to source cardboard boxes for my product packaging was enough to send my blood pressure through the roof. If I went with one of the two possible Senegalese suppliers, I’d have to buy thousands of boxes (when I only needed around 50), but if I wanted to import boxes, I would have been charged a 45% tariff on every item. That means that if I bought $1,000 worth of boxes from another country, I would have to tack on another $450—just for taxes! 

In contrast, if I had been trying to accomplish this task in the US, I could have spent less than $100 on my credit card and had the exact number of boxes I needed delivered to our facilities the next day. 

And that’s just ONE example. There are thousands more, as any African entrepreneur can tell you. 

If it’s nearly impossible for entrepreneurs to build businesses and create jobs, then it doesn’t matter how much we pour into education. A university degree on its own, in the absence of a vibrant economy, does not feed the holder.

Without an ecosystem that allows for business growth, Africa will remain in extreme poverty. We will continue churning out tens of millions of frustrated university graduates—underemployed and poor. 

Lawmakers must embrace economic freedom and give entrepreneurs the liberty to create jobs. That is the only way that Africans will begin to see business as a lifeline, not a series of hurdles designed to make their lives harder.  

I love my homeland of Africa, and I know that we’re on a path toward a brighter future. But the only way we’ll get there is by creating opportunities for our people to thrive. 

Let’s stop focusing on the wrong problems and start creating developed economies with plentiful jobs. 

Join our movement and support our fight to shift Africa’s economic paradigm and kickstart Africa’s Bright Future.