Hustle Culture Emerges in Benin Facing High Graduate Unemployment – Global Issues
COTONOU, Nov 07 (IPS) – When he was just 11 years old, with a heavy heart, Louis looked up at his parents and said goodbye. He left his village in the north of Benin to live with his uncle in Parakou, where the schools were better. Since then, Louis has continued to make sacrifices to pursue a solid education and a better life.
Now, at the age of 23, Louis finds himself with an undergraduate degree in mathematics from a large public university in Benin, speaking almost perfect English, unable to find a formal job. His answer?
“Hustle,” he says.
“I’m a businessman,” said Louis. “It will not be easy for me to create a startup, but I have to tell myself in my mind that I can do it even if it is difficult. I will do whatever I can to succeed.”
Louis said he is currently launching a software company. He and his team hope to develop applications, create websites and solve technical problems for customers.
In Benin, college graduates struggle to find formal employment. Educated young people find themselves working odd jobs, starting their own companies or always relying on their parents financially.
Few in the country decide to pursue higher education at all. According to the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, only 15% of men and 8% of women in Benin enroll in higher education.
Of those who do enroll, the percentage of students who graduate is very low. For the 2022-2023 school year, 58,456 undergraduate students are enrolled at the University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin’s largest public university. In the same academic year, only 6,614 graduated.
Christophe Aïnagnon, who is now an English student at the University of Abomey-Calavi, left the science department after two years because he realized that he would not be able to find a job with his degree.
Aïnagnon said she has many friends who drop out of college entirely because they think they shouldn’t continue. Some of his friends have completed their degrees but cannot find work.
“They think that if they finish, they won’t get a job, they disappear,” said Aïnagnon. “I even have many friends…they study, they work hard, they do everything to finish, but…they didn’t get a job. It’s not that they didn’t know, but most of them are at home now and they don’t do anything.”
Aïnagnon, on the other hand, has set up his own rabbit breeding business to earn money.
“It’s the kind of business where I can be who I want to be and live my best life,” Aïnagnon said.
Last month, the Ichikowitz Family Foundation published a study that found that 60 percent of African youth aged 18-24 want to emigrate in the next five years. The report surveyed 5,604 people and was conducted in 16 different countries.
Louis said it is his dream to move to the United States and has applied for the visa lottery several times.
“That’s why I’m motivated to speak English: to move to another country, to the USA,” said Louis. “When I was a kid, I wanted to study at MIT.”
Some do not wish to immigrate, citing the lack of communication in other countries, the challenge of finding jobs in other countries and the difficulty of the immigration process.
Mirabelle Awegnonde, who is an English student at the University of Abomey-Calavi, said she wants to become a teacher but she must first think of other ways to work if she does not get a teaching job.
“It scares me sometimes,” Awegnonde said. “I’m scared. I’m thinking to myself, how can I get a job in the future? How can I make myself a job instead? Because I’m a shy person, so … it’s hard for me.”
Note: Megan Fahrney is a Fulbright scholar currently living in Benin.
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
