To help reduce rate of unemployment on the continent
In a bid to help reduce the escalating rate of unemployment among youth on the continent, ForgetMeNot Africa has launched Job Xpress, a new SMS-based job search application, that enables partnered mobile networks’ subscribers to send CVs and job applications from any mobile phone, regardless of the model or make of the handset.
According to recent statistics by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), about 40 million African youths are currently unemployed.
However, ForgetMeNot Africa seems to have found the solution to the multiple factors hindering online job applications, through the introduction of the Job Xpress, which has already been adopted by Nigerian telecommunication giant, Glo Mobile.
Speaking on the Job Xpress app, Jeremy George, ForgetMeNot Africa’s Chief Executive Officer, said the app will help Africa turn its human capital into economic opportunity.
“The OECD’s research showed that a major concern for many young Africans is that jobs are only given to people with connections or relatives. Job Xpress helps to level the playing field by giving job applicants a direct method of application, and is a step towards tackling barriers to employment that currently affect young, bright and eager to work Africans,” he said.
“Africa needs to move swiftly to make youth employment a priority, turning its human capital into economic opportunity. A common perception is that Africa needs aid, when in fact what it really needs is a boost in business and jobs. Job Xpress is one way of the mobile industry contributing to the economies it operates in. It provides African mobile subscribers with an internet-free app that gives them a simpler, cheaper and faster way to kick-start their career, by making job applications as easy as sending a text message.”
Samson Isa, Globacom’s Head of Valued Added Services, expressed belief that the app will help the country see better times ahead for graduates as they search for befitting jobs.
“The Job Xpress app will help plug the socio-economic gap, making job applications easier for every one of Glo Mobile’s subscribers regardless of the make and model of their mobile phone,” he said.
“The app vitally helps young people in their efforts to get their foot on the first rung of the career ladder and is a contribution to reducing the dreadful levels of unemployment amongst young Nigerian people.”
