Top 10 ways of how to earn passive income in East Africa
Top 10 ways of how to earn passive income in East Africa
Top 10 ways of how to earn passive income in East Africa. For the 3.5 decades I have lived in East Africa, I have noticed how the rate of unemployment has steadily increased. This has proved to be a huge socio-economic challenge to the high number of the youth in East Africa. These are grappling with joblessness and often seeking alternative avenues for income generation.
With research highlighting that a significant portion of the over 50 million youth in the East African Community facing unemployment, with rates varying across countries in the region. In Kenya it is at 12.3%, in Uganda it stands at 4.47%, and 3.48 in Tanzania. These figures underscore the terrifying reality of the issues and the need for practical solutions to empower the youth economically.
Additionally, East Africa witnesses a substantial influx of graduates from higher educational institutions annually, which intensifies the competition for the limited employment opportunities. Universities alone produce an average of over 300,000 graduates annually across the region. And these figures do not include the ones getting diplomas and certificates.
Despite this, the region boasts untapped potential in sectors often ignored by the youth, such as tourism and innovation. East Africa is blessed with a myriad wildlife species, diverse landscapes and rich cultural heritage that present great opportunities within the tourism sector, from ecotourism activities to hospitality entrepreneurship. Besides this, the region is seeing a growing innovative sector, with initiatives ranging from tech startups to social enterprises aiming to address our current challenges. You will notice that these opportunities remain underexploited due to limited awareness and investment.
If youth within the East African Community make good use of the aforementioned underutilized subsectors, they will not only create their own jobs but also enhance economic growth. This has the potential to promote sustainable development of East Africa. There are various approaches of achieving this, and some of them do not require huge amounts of cash to initiate. The passive ones include;
- Freelance Writing
One passive income opportunity in East Africa is freelance writing. There are numerous online platforms that connect writers with clients seeking content creation services. A youth as a freelance writer can explore various niches such as travel, technology, health, or finance. With your youthful energy build a portfolio and consistently deliver high quality work that can attract regular clients in order to generate a steady stream of income.
As a freelance writer, you can explore various niches such as travel, gossip, music, technology, health, ethno-botany, agriculture, education or finance. Building a strong portfolio and consistently delivering high-quality work can attract regular clients and generate a steady stream of income. You will be surprised by how many East Africans are looking for the best herbal remedies for a better sleeping routine or even eating disorders and plenty others.
2. Blogging
Creating and sustaining a blogging platform is another way of getting passive income within the East African Community. Youth can share valuable or simply popular content on the most interesting topics of interest to your target audience. This can also help you attract traffic to your blog hence becoming more popular. Besides, there are monetization methods such as affiliate marketing, sponsored content, and display advertising can generate revenue as your blog becomes more popular. You can click right here to check out my own, regardless of its low views at the moment.
3. You tube Channel
Are you a youth desiring to share some interesting videos with the world? Start now because You tube allows you to share video content on diverse subject matter, ranging from lifestyle and fashion to educational tutorials and entertainment. You can even access videos and photos from sites that offer them at either a fee or even free of charge. There are millions of East Africans who want to watch videos about their favorite celebrities including music artistes, footballers, wrestlers, film stars and others. Others want to learn more about their health and nutrition, while some want to be informed about politics and East Africa’s history. With engaging content and consistent uploads, you can accumulate views and subscribers, eventually monetizing your channel through ads, sponsorships, and merchandise sales.
4. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing involves promoting products and services by tailored links and earning a commission for each sale or referral generated. Joining affiliate programs relevant to your audience’s interests and promoting products through blogs, social media, or email newsletters can generate passive income as long as your audience engages with the promoted products.
5. Stock Photography
If you desire photographing landscapes, wildlife species, buildings, cultures, landmarks with the aim of getting passive income by selling the images on stock photography websites. By uploading high high-quality images, you can get royalties whenever a person purchases the rights to your images.
6. Rental Property
Investing in rental properties could provide a youth with a passive income stream in East Africa. Whether residential or commercial, rental properties generate monthly rental income while potentially appreciating in value over time. Hiring a property management company to handle maintenance and tenant-related issues, to reduce your direct involvement. This is usually practical if your parents have such property, because this is a relatively costly venture.
7. Peer-to-Peer Lending
East Africa Community youth can engage in peer-to-peer lending platforms to raise passive income for their livelihood. This allows them to lend money to individuals or small businesses in exchange for interest payments. By diversifying your investments across multiple borrowers and carefully assessing risk profiles, you can generate passive income through interest accruals.
8. Dividend Investing
The investment in dividend-paying stocks or exchange-traded funds provides youth within the East African Community to earn passive income through regular dividend distributions. You need to conduct thorough research and select stable companies with history of consistent dividends to help build a portfolio that generates reliable income over time. In Uganda find these at the Uganda Securities Exchange and companies include Stanbic Bank Uganda Limited, MTN, Umeme Limited and others. In Kenya find them at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, including Safaricom Plc, East African Breweries Limited and Kenya Commercial Bank Group among others. In Tanzania, find the companies at the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange. These include Tanzania Breweries Limited, Tanzania Cigarette Company Limited and CRDB Bank Plc among others.
9. Digital Products
Creating and selling digital products such as e-books, online courses, or software can help generate passive income to the youth within the East African Community. Once you can sell it repeatedly without incurring additional production costs. In this case you are like a middle man on platforms like Gumroad or Teachable among others.
10. Mobile Applications
Developing and monetizing mobile applications or software can be a lucrative passive income source for a youth within the East African Community. Whether through in-app purchase, advertising, or subscription models, a well-designed and marketable application can generate revenue long after its initial development. You need to conduct extensive market research and focus on user experience to ensure success in creating the application.