By Chinenye Anuforo
As part of this year’s International Youth Day celebrations, global e-commerce and direct selling leader, QNET, has brought together Nigerian youths to harness entrepreneurship potentials to promote socio-economic growth.
The IYD is celebrated every August 12th to bring youth issues to the attention of the international community and empower them to make positive contributions to their communities and nations.
This year’s theme is “Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages”.
According to the United Nations, the choice of theme is to combat ageism and build bridges between generations to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Underscoring the importance of International Youth Day, Mr Biram Fall, QNET’s Regional Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa, said: “The potential of youth as partners in today’s global society cannot be overemphasized and I commend young people across Nigeria for their dedication and perseverance to succeed despite all odds. At QNET, we understand that the world needs to leverage the full potential of all generations and call on the youth in Nigeria to focus on their entrepreneurial proficiency and embrace direct selling as a bridge to achieve sustainable growth and development.”
The direct selling model involves selling products directly to customers outside of traditional stores, and it relies on word-of-mouth promotion from existing users. Results from the latest direct selling report by the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations (WFDSA) show that global direct sales increased by 2.3 percent year-on-year, from US$175.3 billion in 2019 to US$179.3 billion in 2020. The direct selling industry demonstrated continued strength in 2021 with a 3.0 percent increase in global sales compared to the previous year, valued at approximately USD 186.1 trillion. This shows that while the Covid-19 pandemic shaped a different and challenging path for many industries for the past two years, direct selling continues to thrive amidst the contraction in economic activity.
“Nigeria has one of the largest populations of youth in the world and the potential of this emerging young talent pool needs to be harnessed for the country’s economic growth. E-commerce boosts the economy by increasing productivity and encouraging innovation which makes youth participation in global e-commerce essential to post-Covid economic growth. Direct selling can act as a supplementary source of income for those who are pursuing their passion, or even a full-time career for the entrepreneurial-minded, depending on what the person is looking for. At QNET, we want to enable young people to leverage their technological prowess, solid connection to the community, and powerful sense of social responsibility to generate a sustainable source of income outside of less flexible, traditional career paths with direct selling.”, added Mr Fall.
Through various initiatives and investments, QNET has reinforced its commitment to empowering young people with the skills needed to pursue opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship. One of these programme is its social impact initiative, Rythms which has over the years been at the helm of championing developmental initiatives and Youth empowerment projects through Sustainable Community and Corporate programmes. The programme since its inception has seen the transformation of communities and has helped build the capacity of the Youth and the marginalized in focus areas like Education, Gender Equality and community development. It is on this bedrock that QNET is leveraging on its influence to cause change in other areas of critical importance.
Earlier in the year, the company rolled out the pilot phase for its signature financial literacy program, “FinGreen”, designed to develop healthy financial habits through education and training among young adults. FinGreen addresses common financial barriers faced by young entrepreneurs looking to participate in the global e-commerce boom and aims to educate these young people about financial risk awareness in an increasingly knowledge-based and digital world.
QNET is offering young people who wish to enter the direct selling industry and become independent representatives for the brand, the freedom to run their own business through its e-commerce portal and mobile app. The platform provides users with the tools they need to seamlessly conduct their business from anywhere.