The best passive income and side hustle business for an African youth
Many African youths have been scammed online so many times. This happens when they fall for misleading ads like the “Get Rich Quickly” ads. Any sane person will tell you that for you to make money you need to provide value or a service in exchange for cash.
What many Africans don’t realise is that they can make money with their Mobile Network Carrier. Mobile money business has created self-employment for many Africans as it does not require any specialised skills to run. The side hustle is called Mobile Money. Mobile money is a technology that allows people to receive, store and spend money using a mobile phone. It’s sometimes referred to as a ‘mobile wallet’. If your network provider offers mobile money services, you need to sign up to become an agent.
Is there any Profit in this type of business?
Mobile money business is profitable in Africa because of high penetration rate of mobile telecommunication. There are about 96 mobile subscriptions for every 100 people in 2019 and 57% of Africans lack any form of bank account (middleeast-business.com). However, for your business to be profitable, you need to find a location with high traffic such as near a market or a bus station.
Your profit will depend on the amount of money you put in as your starting capital. For example, if you invest $100 you will get about $100 as commission at the end of the month provided there is a lot of traffic in the place where you have placed your business. You can use a shop or a booth. A Booth is good for convenience as it does not require so much land and can be placed anywhere.
How to start
1. Firstly, you need to have cash available to start this business. You can start with as little as $100.
2. Before you can start operating this business, you need to submit an application together with identifying document of the owner of the business to the mobile network provider you have chosen.
3. If you are accepted then you need to register your business to relevant business regulatory institutions in your country of residence.
4. You also need to know that you are supposed to pay taxes to the tax collecting agency in your country for any income you generate.
You can start operating as a mobile money agent once you complete Mobile money agent registration and your application is approved. You will receive trading SIM cards and manual user guides from the network carrier representatives.
Conclusion
Even though mobile money business has created many job opportunities, you cannot rely on this business to become a millionaire. This is because mobile money businesses have low-income profit margins. However, it doesn’t mean that you cannot make profits. You will need to increase traffic to your outlet if you want to generate more money.
