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The world of work is evolving at a rapid pace like never before. Employment opportunities from 10 years ago are gone. There are no jobs in the world that have not yet been invented that will be the jobs for the next generation. It's frightening and exhilarating, for young Africans.

The horrifying aspect is the unknown. The high-voltage end of things is the opportunity. The population of Africa is the youngest of all the world. It is not a burden that needs to be carried. It is the greatest asset it has on the continent. Africa will not simply be part of the global economy in the future, it will make it.

However, preparation necessitates a rethinking of education, skills and success.

The first and most important is to end memorization and begin problem-solving. For decades, the education systems in Africa have been designed so as to give awards to students who can regurgitate facts, dates and formulas. With Artificial Intelligence, it isn't just useless, it's harmful. A machine can remember facts quicker and more accurately than a man. A machine can't solve a new problem in an old context. It can't cope with the chaos of a busy market; it can't deal with a land dispute; it can't determine how to reach a village that has no street address. Today the future is with young people who think critically, adapt easily and solve problems creatively. A change in culture within the school must take place from "what is the answer?" to "how would you approach this problem?".

The second non-negotiable is digital literacy. Digital skills have become indispensable. They are as basic as reading and writing. All young people entering the workforce must have fundamental digital skills, such as making spreadsheets, accessing cloud storage, communicating through professional applications and online safety. This is in addition to the basics, however, and now the new superhighway to prosperity is specialized digital skills. Data Analysis, Cyber Security, Content Creation, and UI Design are industry growth areas. An African youth who learns any can do a job anywhere in the world without ever moving out of his community. Geography is no longer a barrier to opportunity thanks to the internet. The key that opens that door is digital skills.

The third shift is comprehending the hybrid workplace of the future. The COVID-19 pandemic have illustrated what many suspected, that remote work is possible, and sometimes effective. The old workplace is gone and the world is now a new workplace. This is from the unheard-of for young people in Africa. You can get a Silicon Valley salary in Kigali, and live at local cost. A virtual assistant in Nairobi can work for various clients in different time zones. However, this means preparation. Youth need to learn to work independently, to make sure they can write effectively and understand and utilize diverse cultures. These are soft skills and essential to remote work.

The green economy is the fourth frontier. Climate change is "not an environmental problem, but a new economic system being created. The Renewable Energy, Sustainable Agriculture, Waste Management and Electric transport sectors are expanding industries. Africa is home to the youngest population segment with the greatest need of green solutions. An excellent fit. This isn't only environmentally beneficial, but it's also an excellent way to educate the next generation of Africans in solar panel installation, sustainable farming methods, and recycling logistics. It makes good business sense. Millions and millions of jobs will be generated by the green economy. It is imperative that the workforce of African youth be qualified to fill them.

Emotional intelligence and human skills are the fifth pillar. The more mundane jobs are automated, the more important uniquely human abilities are. These skills—empathy, working collaboratively, negotiating, leading, emotional intelligence—are not codable. A nurse is comforting a scared patient. A salesman who reads a salesperson's hesitation. A team manager who settles team conflicts. An educator that motivates a weak student. Relationship roles are based on relationships. Technical skills will have to be acquired alongside interpersonal skills among the young Africans. The workplace of the future will be more automated and more human. Those who succeed will be those who "get people.

The sixth and possibly most crucial mindset shift is in the realm of "lifelong learning. It's not just about mastering a skill and then maintaining it for 40 years. The future worker will not have only multiple jobs, but, rather, multiple careers. Young Africans, therefore, need to be accustomed to continuous upskilling, reskilling and adaptation. One of the most important aspects of programming is its adaptability. Adaptability is an important thing of programming which a coder today would need to learn a new language next year. What a marketer does today could be the technology they need to know tomorrow. Learning is a lifelong process. This is an ongoing process. The biggest asset in the company is the quickest learner.

Last but not least, entrepreneurship should be a core subject, rather than an offshoot. The education of many of Africa's youth has been preparing them to simply wait for someone else to provide a job. That's a broken model. No government or corporation ever will be able to provide enough formal employment for the youth bulge on the continent. The answer is to educate the young in self-employment. Education in entrepreneurship should be started in primary school and continued onwards. Students need to be able to spot opportunities, assess risks, manage finances, promote products and services and provide customer service. Many of these businesses will be unsuccessful. That is fine. Failure is the best teacher. The idea is not to ensure that everyone's business will succeed but to create a generation that won't fret when no one is willing to hire them. They just create it by themselves.

It is an obvious message to young Africans reading at present: The future is never promised. It is arriving now. There will be some who are left behind due to lack of preparation. Some will grow to be wealthy and flourishing beyond the dreams of their parents. It's no accident. It is preparation. Don't let the system save you. The tools are there. No cost to the knowledge. All that's missing is action.

Those are the ready who will be the ones in control of the future. Let us get to work.