KISII, Kenya, May 27- Sitting outside her house with her smartphone which she received on her 87th birthday from the grandchildren while trying to take a selfie and share it with her family members who are in the city, is something she has tried for hours to capture a nice photo of herself to share online and connect with her family.
Mary Nyaboke from Nyaramba village in Nyamira county says taking photos and sharing them with her loved one is something which is not an easy task to do compared to young people who could do it in seconds.
She recalls that during the long holiday, she took photos with her grandchildren using their phones.
She enjoyed watching them as they used different camera applications such as the snap chat and photo editing apps making the photos clear, more beautiful and classier.
“During the holidays, my grandchild paid a visit and brought me a smartphone and this was the best thing that happened to me, having a nice phone and having a young mind like them,” she narrates.
At the start, the grandchildren could sit beside her and take her step by step as they downloaded and installed applications on her phone.
They could make video calls, which left her elated after being able to connect with her family members who are far away.
It was however not easy for her since the only thing she would ease do was to receive calls, or make one.
Eventually, she resulted to using her old phone.
When they left for the city, she remained with the phone which became like a toy with no more use.
She would take it out and scroll through without knowing where to click next.
Widespread mobile industry has remained a permanent feature for the working environment among the youth, catalyzed by the experiences made with teleworking during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
According to GSMA Mobile for Development, the mobile industry in Sub-Saharan Africa directly employed 1.2 million youth in 2018 and this number is expected to grow to 1.5 million by 2025.
This growth was driven primarily by increased Evolution of Mobile Standards, network coverage, smartphone penetration and mobile services innovation, all of which are expected to create jobs by increasing demand for existing and new mobile services.
However, over two-thirds of these jobs are in the informal sector, a challenge to ensuring decent and quality employment for youth
The mobile industry has played a big role in not only creating jobs, but also in supporting youth through their employment journeys including bridging the skills gap, providing lifelong learning and training opportunities, and ensuring decent working conditions.
The pew Research center report indicates mobile devices are the most popular technology tool in Africa.
The world development report 2019 shows that the labour market of the future will require new skills including digital fluency, creative thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, empathy and adaptability.
With these new demands in place, it would be remiss of Africa not to strengthen her biggest asset: the youth who make up around 60% of the continent’s population.
The use of telework before the crisis varied substantially across countries, sectors, occupations and firms, which suggests a large scope for policies to contribute to the spread of teleworking.
The last two years have been very difficult for everyone.
COVID-19 pandemic has put everyone behind closed doors with work, education and everything getting online.
During this time, people realized the power of technology more than ever before. During this time, everyone realized how important it is to have access to the internet and knowledge of it.
Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest growing youth population in an inadequately skilled workforce.
This poses a challenge for economies that must not only generate more jobs but also support youth in their employment journeys.
Edwin Matongo an IT expert and a business person who has ventured into internet installation and CCTV Cameras in Kenya reach out to his clients through online platforms by marketing his business.
Over the past three years, Matongo has done his business online by sending clients quotations using his mobile and laptop device through the 3/4Gs network which he says provides faster and more accessible channels between him and his clients.
He however says it is challenging working in some parts of the country where you can only use a 2/3g network which is very slow in terms of browsing and speed.
This has forced him to make phone calls and texts on mobile phones.
“4G network is very expensive to purchase compared to 3/2Gs but very fast and time-consuming. It takes a few minutes to download or upload a file instantly with 4G when compared with the 3G network,” said Matongo.
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