Emmanuel is a final year student in the University of Lagos. He is currently studying Mechanical Engineering, but has developed interest in Software Backend Development and has been taking courses in his spare time.
At the beginning of January 2023, Emmanuel decided to begin saving towards a new laptop. After much searching, he finally finds a laptop powerful enough to run all software necessary and is given the quoted price of $500 Naira (350,000 Naira in January, 2023). Over the course of the year, as the price of fuel and food increases, Emmanuel tangibly struggles to save small amounts from a few freelance gigs he has taken up.
The need to buy a new laptop looms over his head as the old one he is using is now on its last legs and is acting expectedly for its age — it is slow, crashes often, and sometimes even costs him some work. But, he presses on.
Then in December, with the money complete, he goes in search of that same laptop he had made note of in January, but he is quoted $250 (550,000 Naira in December, 2023). Thus, he has been effectively priced out of advancing his professional passions due to inflation and economic downturn.
Emmanuel’s story is very much the story of many tech talents in Africa. It is the story of the cost of economic regression and inflation with its far and wide ramifications.
It has been well reported that Africa has a large and growing youth population. Stated simply by the World Economic Forum, “This burgeoning youth population is projected to grow even further, as Africa’s population is expected to reach 2.5 billion by 2050, up from 1.4 billion today. Notably, by 2035, there will be more young Africans entering the workforce each year than in the rest of the world combined.”
This is happening in tandem with an otherwise global contraction in population growth, with many major economies reporting a rapidly ageing population.
This positions the African continent as the next proverbial door step for the global workforce. Simply put, we are approaching a time wherein African talent can power major industries across the globe. And with significant leaps in technology being made on a daily basis, it is entirely possible for African talent to provide this support with nothing but a laptop and an internet connection.
At Propel, we are working hard to achieve this future. Our event with Stepstone in Nairobi, as well as our participation at the 2024 GFMD Summit in Geneva, are a testament to this mission. We believe that, by establishing a strong connection with both communities and global employers, we can launch this global talent shift, while tackling and re-defining bigger issues like migration.
But, we also believe in taking a community first approach. And our close connection with African talent communities mean we are intimately familiar with the growing challenges inflation and the cost of living crisis present. After all, how can talent like Emmanuel go on to impact the world if they cannot afford the tools they need to grow their careers? How can African talent compete in the global talent marketplace if they are being priced out of the opportunity to grow?
This barrier presented us with a call to action.
And our solution?
Embedded Financial Services.
We built our Community-as-a-Service platform to be a place for communities to communicate and access opportunities. Now, we’re adding in financial services that would help reduce the barriers to access for anyone looking to kick start their career. Our goal is to reduce the frequency with which stories like Emmanuel’s serve as a stumbling block for Africa’s talent.
Our first big step in this direction is our Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) feature, which is coming to our Nigerian communities first. We’ve built it with consideration, to allow talent to easily access credit when necessary, with an understanding repayment schedule.
This is just a start. There are still other challenges African talent face, and those too need to be overcome before our vision for the future of Africa’s talent can be fully realised. But as a step, we believe it is one in the right direction, and we’re working ardently to ensure BNPL and all future embedded financial services are able to directly address the pain points of talent as they aim to grow their careers.
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