The Republic of Congo, a country in Central Africa, is a country with great wealth, including its numerous and ambitious youth. It is one of the countries of French-speaking Africa having good relations with France, which formerly designated Brazzaville (political capital of the Congo) as the capital of Free France. This is what normally would have made Congo a country of opportunities and referencing in Central Africa. But the reality is that it is the land of unemployment after studies.
Have the leaders mismanaged the evolution of the Congo? Today it is one of country considered to be rich for its oil, timber, minerals and the like, while most of its people live in poverty. The unemployment rate is also over 20% for lack of factories and companies being able to take or to engage the graduates of all its extension.
Despite everything, Congolese youth like to study, and she is very ambitious. To confirm this, it is enough to see how the university halls are filled and how many young graduates or students want to study abroad each year.
However, a question arises in the minds of its students who have decided to continue their studies in Congo or who do not have the possibility of going abroad: ” What to do after your university studies?«
The public service trap
To answer this question, we had to go back a bit.
In the Congo, for a long time, many parents have instilled in their children the idea that success lies in the public service. When you ended up being integrated there, you were good… When a student finished his studies, the first thing was to want to enter the public service. Error !
Today, this bad way of thinking is catching up with us. First, because these parents did not think about entrepreneurship, since they thought that the monthly salary was enough for them. As a result, no private companies or almost none.
Secondly, the children they had grew up with the same policy, and years later, the government is accused of not hiring young people in the public service, while there are many unemployed graduates.
Faced with this thought, I personally wonder if we are aware that not everyone can be integrated into the public service. Impossible !
Train young people?
We had asked a question to a Congolese student, which was to know what he would change in the Congo if God gave him the grace to become President of the Republic. He replied that he would start by improving the conditions of study, that he would bet on the training of his youth.
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Initially, I confess to having praised his idea, not to say his response. But afterwards, I asked myself the question of why train, knowing that they will have difficulty finding a job afterwards? Finally, where is the real problem? Let’s see.
Let’s avoid being civil servants, unless we are visionaries!
The big problem here is knowing how to occupy young graduates, and old graduates who are unemployed. And to answer that question, or to find a solution to that problem, we have to have three things in mind.
The first is to forget the idea that being in the public service means making a success of your life. Thinking about public service should be a second plan, just for one in case. Especially for enthusiasts and for those to whom the profession does not give them several choices. And if we want to be rich as we like to say, let’s avoid being civil servants, unless we are visionaries.
The second thing is to look for an internship in a professional environment after or during your studies, to try to stand out, to continue to learn and to train. And then, you would have to find a job in the private sector or participate in government projects.
You have to work hard and set yourself a certain period of hard work in a business. Meanwhile, you save and live like a college student for the next few years. This is the best way to think about the future.
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The third thing is to think about and develop an entrepreneurial activity. But having an income-generating activity is not enough. You have to develop it so that you can hire two or more people over time. This is how you become an entrepreneur, this is how you could eradicate unemployment in this beautiful country. That’s how you add your stone to the edifice of a country’s development.
The Congo of tomorrow belongs to us
Ultimately, if it happens that you are a civil servant, it does not matter. However, you can develop a side business as long as you have good ideas and people you trust. It’s up to you to decide what to get into. But above all, do not stray from the path of your profession.
We have to be good at what we have learned and share what we can do because someone might need it.
The Congo of tomorrow belongs to us. The Africa of tomorrow is in our hands. Politics is a waste of time. Let’s study, train, reflect and take action. It’s time to change things. Let’s stop believing those who couldn’t get started on the pretext that those at the head blocked them even if it’s true.
Let’s take action first… Let’s think of our children and our grandchildren. The world is changing, people are getting older, and some of them are changing. Let’s just try our luck. Let’s go !