Through their work at Good Work Foundation, a rural education non-profit with six digital learning campuses in Mpumalanga and the Free State, Verena Wagner and Musa Mokoena are actively involved in helping the continent's youth to prosper.

According to the Boston Consulting Group, by 2050, Africa will experience a youth population explosion (it projects that 40% of all under-18s will have been born in Africa), rapid urbanisation, climate change, growing digital capacity and entrepreneurial innovation.

The foundation has indicated what Wagner and Mokoena say about how we can future-proof South Africa for the benefit of generations to come:

Musa Mokoena: side hustles and digital skills are the way to go

"GWF, being in the digital learning space, is preparing young Africans for the future by giving them the kind of education that will inspire them and equip them for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. They, in turn, will prepare their own children with the necessary digital skills, so it's a generational investment in our future population," says Musa Mokoena, GWF's head of campus operations and a mother of two.

But, she adds, even as a digital future beckons, there will still be room for innovative, creative, out-of-the-box thinking.

"Our education model opens doors for young people going into the business arena because they are gaining the confidence to become entrepreneurs in their own right, creating jobs for themselves and for others," Mokoena says. 

While GWF has a robust network of partners that place many of its graduates in jobs, the organisation also helps "ignite that spark" of entrepreneurship in those exploring new ventures or side hustles.

Mokoena says, "In fact, this month one of our alumni assisted in starting up a local Bushbuckridge community radio station, BlueHazy FM. And there are many others who have started businesses — one of our staff members runs a small restaurant, selling kotas and other traditional meals. So we light a fire in aspiring entrepreneurs that says, 'What else can I do to feed my family and grow personally?'"

The foundation says Mokoena believes that despite the projected trend towards urbanisation, the future is bright for rural economies— especially those that create their own opportunities.

To this end, GWF has formed an on-campus social enterprise VillageUp in a bid to become self-sustaining. It offers a business process outsourcing service to corporates, creating jobs for the Mpumalanga community while ploughing the profits back into education.

"When I came to work here [in rural Mpumalanga], I saw first-hand how you don’t need to be from Joburg to speak good English; you don't need to have gone to a private or multiracial school to advance yourself," Mokoena says.

This is because GWF's Bridging Year Academy helps polish rural school-leavers' English skills so they can enter the workplace knowing the universal language of business. 

"We are contributing to social cohesion by encouraging young people to stay in rural areas and use their skills to help develop their communities. We want to change rural people's mindsets so that they are comfortable in their own spaces," Mokoena adds.

Verena Wagner: going back to the land to power up rural economies

According to the foundation, GWF senior development manager Verena Wagner is brimming with new ideas after becoming acquainted with Project Biome. This pan-African movement promotes a "new way of living" that prioritises green technology, rewilding and regenerative agriculture, grounded in indigenous wisdom.

"Our human connections have been largely lost and our community structures eroded, and we need to draw back on that ancient wisdom," Wagner says. "We need to reimagine a future world premised on a healthy planet and healthy people. Africans can generate real change in the world because of our links to spiritualism and to the land."

Future-facing in its outlook, GWF has already made strides in empowering and strengthening rural communities. However, Wagner says that as Africans, we need to do more to harness our potential to combat challenges "and create the change that we want to see".

She says that re-examining our agricultural practices will help shape a sustainable future with food security at its core. 

"Regenerative agriculture is a trend that is gaining momentum. It's about connecting people back into growing their own food and returning to their natural rhythms. It's a community-based approach that's about taking control of your health and your future," Wagner adds. 

Wagner believes GWF is perfectly positioned to pioneer and integrate such notions into its education curricula – "becoming the custodian of, and safeguarding, our rural spaces for the benefit of our heritage and culture, while investing in communities and building capacity".

This is especially urgent in the Bushbuckridge area, where it is estimated that half of the population is younger than 18 and less than 20% of young adults are employed.

GWF says that both women are optimistic about Africa's future if we use a combination of ancient wisdom and enterprising thinking to solve our own challenges. Mokoena believes parents should take the lead in nurturing young minds — such as, in her case, cultivating her son's love of soccer and her daughter's passion for dancing.

"We should invest in teaching our children how to come out of their comfort zones and identify their talents and skills because that is what will push them to succeed later in life, as African children," Mokoena concludes. 

Also a mother of two, like her colleague Mokoena, Wagner would love to see the education curriculum evolve to prioritise more experiential, child-led and life skills-based learning so, teaching the skill of learning rather than just providing education as such. 

For more information, visit www.goodworkfoundation.org. You can also follow the Good Work Foundation on Facebook, LinkedIn, X or Instagram. 

*Image courtesy of Facebook