Future-proofing Youth Entrepreneurship in Africa with Digital Skills

There is no shortage of driven and creative young entrepreneurs on the African continent. Everywhere you turn, they are there, running farms and restaurants, hair salons and corner stores. However, these young business owners often lack access to a broader set of skills — digital, business, and critical soft skills — to future-proof their work, ensuring they can thrive in the long term. Recognizing this, over the past year the Digital Opportunity Trust (DOT) and its partners have equipped nearly 10,000 youth in two African countries – Malawi and Tanzania – with urgently-needed digital business skills. These trainings are part of “Going Beyond – Partnering for a Youth-Led Future,” a five-year collaboration between DOT and the Mastercard Foundation. As we mark World Youth Skills Day on July 15, we want to share the stories of four of these remarkable young people, and how the digital skills they learned in Going Beyond have transformed their businesses – and their lives. 

Delphina Kazimoto, 26 (Moshi, Tanzania) 

For years, Delphina ran her cucumber farm the same way people in her hometown in Tanzania always had. She grew her veggies, hauled them out to the village market, and waited for customers. It never occurred to her that there was another way to do business – that is, until she participated in the Digital Business Program, the training offered through Going Beyond. There, she learned the ins and outs of digital marketing, and soon she was advertising her cucumbers on WhatsApp as “pesticide free” and “farm fresh.” One of her ads caught the eye of a big supplier, who began buying Delphina’s produce in bulk, selling it to customers as far flung as Dar es Salaam, nearly 600 kilometers from her farm. Today, Delphina has two full time employees, plus several part-time workers to assist with harvests. “This way I can continue empowering other people as well,” she explains proudly. But the ripple effects of Delphina’s participation in Going Beyond reach even further. In her community, agriculture is still a male-dominated field. “So being a woman who is succeeding in this line of business shows other young women that they can do it too,” she says. 

Sarah Kanjakata, 24 (Lilongwe, Malawi) 

Sarah didn’t just have her own future in mind when she enrolled in the Digital Business Program in Going Beyond. As the training began, her due date for her second daughter was fast approaching. “I want to be a good role model,” she explains, “to teach my kids to be hardworking and independent.” Sarah had always worked hard in her hair salon, a business she has run since the age of 16. After completing the Digital Business Program, however, she says she was able for the first time to work more effectively.  She learned financial management skills and social media marketing. When she finished, she began keeping track of the flow of money in and out of her business, and after she braided a customer’s hair, she would snap a photo and post it to Facebook Marketplace. Customers poured in, allowing Sarah to rekindle a childhood dream. In the next few years, she plans to hand day-to-day management of her shop over to her employees, allowing her to return to school to become a nurse and extending the impact of her participation in Going Beyond. “I’m setting an example for my girls,” she says. “I’m showing them what it looks like for a woman to succeed in business.” 

Musa Moshi Musa, 27 (Mwanza, Tanzania)

Before Musa participated in the Digital Business Program, he says his vegetable farm was something he was doing “without giving it too much attention.” But as he began to build essential 21st-century business skills, and learn how to balance his books, market online, and build strong relationships with his customers, that casual approach flew out the window. “I got serious about it,” he says. Today, when a customer replies to one of his WhatsApp statuses advertising fresh okra, kale, spinach, pumpkins and corn, Musa flies into action and quickly organizes a delivery. “I learned that customers prize urgency,” he says, adding that Going Beyond imparted valuable skills in communication that have been pivotal for the growth of his business. Having completed his training and demonstrating strong performance, Musa was nominated, applied, and successfully received a Seed Award to expand his business, based on a compelling business plan that outlined how the funds would be used to enhance the sustainability of his business.” Musa used the Seed Award to set up an irrigation system. “I’m seeing a big future for this business,” he says. “Digital platforms have already brought in many customers, and that’s just going to grow and grow.” 

Macjay Jackson, 26 (Mzuzu, Malawi)

Macjay’s business raising pigs was born of necessity. “I needed money for my education,” he says. “And on top of that, I have a family to support.” But he always had a nagging feeling that his business wasn’t as successful as it could be. “Nowadays, the world is changing,” Macjay explains. And he wanted to change with it. “I want to be resilient and thriving,” he says. In the Digital Business Program, he learned to think creatively about how to build his business’ reputation online. For example, he started a Facebook page where he offers other smallholder farmers advice on how to turn animal manure into fertilizer. Visitors to the site can pay for one-on-one coaching with Macjay, and he says the page also helps build his profile as an expert in his field. Macjay says one of his proudest moments in the Digital Business Program was when he learned how to accurately calculate his profits and losses. He hopes that skill will help his business grow even more quickly. He plans to extend the impact of his participation in Going Beyond by empowering young people around him as well. “In five years, I see myself as one of the major pig suppliers in Mzuzu,” he says. “And when I grow, I’ll be employing other people in the community too.” 

Delphina, Sarah, Musa, and Macjay stand as proof that empowering young entrepreneurs with digital skills, entrepreneurial excellence, business acumen and leadership is transformative – not only for them, but for those around them as well. Future-proofing youth-run businesses has a ripple effect, creating a supportive environment for the upskilling of other young people in their communities too. As we mark World Youth Skills Day this year, we call on the development sector, funders, NGOs, and MSME owners to commit, with us, to continue equipping youth with digital skills to tackle today’s challenges and shape a more peaceful, inclusive, and sustainable future.