Linea Shoopala
Social media is what you make of it. From WhatsApp status updates to viral trends on X and curated Instagram posts, individuals are making use of these platforms to the best of their advantage. For Elias Tranquility Ndulumba (28), social media is more than just entertainment, but a tool for change.
He connects jobseekers to their employers or vice versa by posting job opportunities on his WhatsApp status.
What stands out is that job opportunities are posted for free, reaching 35 720 of his contacts. Ndulumba’s initiative was driven by the high unemployment rate, especially among young graduates.
He said communication allows access to opportunities, which is the purpose of the platform. “Sometimes you can just have your neighbour looking for a worker, but you won’t know because of lack of communication,” he asserted.
He said he took advantage of the technological advances that have transformed channels of communication, choosing WhatsApp to help solve a national challenge. Ndulumba’s initiative has proven effective as evidenced by the testimonies he receives on a daily basis.
“I post more than five job opportunities per day. I know they get filled on the same day unless there is a delay.
“This means on average, more than five Namibians get jobs every day via my WhatsApp status,” he said.
His goal is to increase this number to at least 10 job placements per day.
This significantly reduces the unemployment rate, particularly among the youth. Ndulumba encourages young people to use social media for more than just entertainment.
His platform serves more than creating job opportunities, as he also posts business adverts for only N$100 per 24 hours.
“This is to allow small and medium enterprises to have an affordable platform to advertise their products,” he asserted. One of his notable successes was helping a business owner recruit 30 employees for her business.
Challenges of managing a growing network
Handling such a vast network comes with its own set of challenges.
With thousands of contacts comes constant notifications.
Ndulumba admitted that it can be overwhelming to manage these contacts. “Managing them is really hectic. I hope to find a solution,” he said. From frequent phone freezes that require constant upgrades to the high cost of data, the hurdles are endless.
“It forced me to have a contract data card with MTC that loads 90 gigabytes (GB) per month, which is not enough sometimes. When depleted, I request for them to load another 90GB,” he said.
Despite these challenges, he is unwavering in his determination. His aim is to expand his contact list to 50 000 contacts by the end of the year for greater impact. Ndulumba does not mind engaging with the many contacts because “being on the phone is his hobby… but I hate calls as they interrupt by data connection.”
He prefers people getting straight to the point, attending only to “serious” text messages.
“I do manage, and I can manage,” he maintained.
Ndulumba has since appealed to good Samaritans to contribute even a mere N$20 to help him buy a phone with a bigger RAM.
Those interested in joining his platform can simply save his number and send him a message with their name. He can be reached at +264 81 762 2270. Namibia’s unemployment rate increased from 33.4% in 2018 to 36.9% in 2023 as revealed by the Namibia Statistics Agency’s 2023 Labour Force Survey. Youth unemployment has decreased by 1.7 percentage points to 44.4% from 46.1% in the 2018 Labour Force Survey.
– lshoopala@nepc.com.na