Young and Restless🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♀️
#165: "Our youth are not failing the system; the system is failing our youth." - Rachel Jackson
Hello Venturer,
Everyone talks about how tough it is to go through adolescence and midlife. Both arcs are crucial, no doubt. They mark people’s transition into adulthood and old age, respectively. But what happens during the years in between? Mostly uncertainty. And if they live in Nigeria, mostly chaos.
Young adults often spend their time being told to “calm down,” “move fast” and also “take things slow”. Nigerian youths, however, have to do each of these things at twice the intensity. They have to work twice as hard and still be tranquil enough to not live on the edge.
Why is this so? Inflation. Prices have risen so high and fast that saving has become a luxury for many. In a country where people spend 57% of their earnings on food, enjoying their youth and planning their financial future are Herculean tasks. This week, Suotunimi Orufa documented the struggles of youths in their 20s to save while battling hyperinflation.
Oluwatosin Ogunjuyigbe
Staff writer, Ventures Africa
What’s new?
How are 20-somethings saving in a challenging economy?
Young people who are just starting to get their footing as they enter adulthood are grappling with how to balance their incomes and spending priorities so they have money left over to save for emergencies and their future. Read more.
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ICYMI: Niger’s power cut, UK £60 million support fund, and GSK’s exit from Nigeria.
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The VA Pod
Nigeria is going through its toughest energy crisis in years. This could be a great time to explore renewable energy. This podcast, adapted from our LinkedIn audio event titled, “Seems like the right time for Nigeria to invest in renewable energy” digs into this conversation. Oluwatosin Ogunjuyigbe hosted industry experts, including Chibunna Ogbonna, co-Founder and CEO of Kiru Energy Limited and Lolade Alonge, Business Communication officer and project manager at Koolbooks. Listen here.
Mini Issues
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Read the mini issue of our coverage of Viva Technology, Europe’s biggest technology conference, which was held in Paris, France, from June 14th to 17th, 2023.
Africa’s Business Heroes – Empowering Africa's next-gen entrepreneurs?
Since 2019, ABH, Jack Ma Foundation’s philanthropic program, has identified, showcased, and supported the next generation of African entrepreneurs through its inclusive and sector-agnostic prize competition.
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