Let’s be honest.
The rules we were given are broken.
For a generation, the promise was simple: go to school, get a good degree, and you will find a secure, well-paying job. Today, we all know someone, or we are that someone, with a good degree who is struggling to find a job.
We see graduates driving Ubers or managing social media for a tiny wage, not because the work is bad, but because it’s not the future they were promised.
The truth is, the “promise” is dead. It’s not coming back. And this is not a failure of our education system alone; it is a sign of a fundamental, global change in how the world works, driven by technology.
The old path is gone. A new one is being built right now, and it’s being built with different rules. If you are waiting for the old path to reappear, you will be left behind, sadly. The future of work is not “coming.” It is here. It is digital, borderless, and moving at the speed of light.
Your success in the next decade depends on your willingness to stop playing by the old rules and start mastering the new ones.
In this post, I’m going to share three fundamental shifts you must be aware of, understand, and act on, starting from today.
From Career to Skills Portfolio
The Old Rule says: You had a “career.” You were an “accountant,” a “lawyer,” a “marketer.” Your job title was your identity, and your degree was your entry ticket. Job security was the goal.
But now the reality is, job security is dead. Only skill security exists. Your degree is a piece of paper that proves you are trainable. It is not a certificate of competence for the modern world.
According to a recent study by the Mastercard Foundation and BrighterMonday in Kenya, a massive 75.9% of employers prioritize digital and ICT skills above all other technical competencies, signalling that the market has already moved on from “degree-first” to “skill-first.”
The single biggest disruptor right now is Artificial Intelligence (AI).
But here is a secret that no one will most likely tell you: AI is not coming for your job. It is coming for your tasks.
The World Economic Forum’s 2025 report identifies AI and Big Data, alongside cybersecurity, as the fastest-growing skills. At the same time, tasks in customer service, bookkeeping, and basic research are being heavily automated.
The winners of this new era are not defined by their job title. They are defined by their skills portfolio. A portfolio is a collection of high-value, high-leverage, provable skills that can be applied to solve different problems.
Instead of saying: “I am an accountant.”, you could switch that to: “I am a problem-solver who uses data. I can build real-time financial dashboards in Power BI, I can analyze data with Python, and I can explain complex financial insights to a non-technical team.”
Which one sounds more valuable?
You see, the second person is not just an accountant; they are a data analyst and a business strategist. They are 10x more valuable.
As AI automates the repetitive technical tasks, uniquely human skills become the new premium. The WEF report also highlights the rising demand for creative thinking, analytical thinking, leadership, and resilience.
Your value is no longer just your technical skill; it’s your ability to combine that skill with creativity, communication, and adaptability.
So, my friend, I advise you to stop defining yourself by your degree and start obsessively building your skills portfolio. For every skill, ask: “Can this task be automated?” If the answer is yes, you must learn the next skill, which is how to use the AI to do that task 10x faster.
Your new job is to become a lifelong learner. Your security is no longer in what you know; it’s in how fast you can learn.
From Local Market to Global Talent
A decade ago, your job opportunities were limited to your city, or at best, your country. Your salary was set by local standards and local employers.
But now, that has changed. Your competition is global. But so is your paycheck. The COVID-19 pandemic proved to the entire world that remote work works. A company in Berlin, London, or Toronto no longer needs to hire a developer in Berlin. It can hire the best developer, period. That developer can be you, sitting in Lagos, Nairobi, or Accra, connected by the “Global Talent.”
I got my first-ever remote job in 2019 as a software engineer working for a US-based company. This was actually a dream come true because before this, I had already seen a few of my colleagues in the industry secure remote jobs across Europe, and this was also my dream until it became a reality. Since then, I have been working remotely. I have worked with different companies in Europe as a software engineer from Nigeria.
This is not a theory. This is a fact, backed by two powerful forces.
- Demand: Africa’s freelance workforce has reportedly grown by 55% since 2020. A survey found that 79% of African youth believe remote work offers better career opportunities than traditional jobs. Global companies are actively hiring African remote talent for software development, cybersecurity, AI, and digital marketing.
- Demographics: The World Bank estimates that Africa will be home to one in four of all people on Earth by 2050. By then, Nigeria’s population alone may swell by 130 million. It is a mathematical certainty that there will not be enough local jobs for this wave of talent. The only scalable solution is to plug this talent into the global market.
This is the single most significant economic leapfrog opportunity in our history. For the first time, you can bypass local unemployment and wages (and inflation) and plug yourself directly into the global economy, earning in foreign currency. Yes, there are challenges: internet costs, power, and cross-border payments.
But African-led fintechs (like Paystack and Flutterwave) are already solving the payment problem. The cost of data is high, but the cost of being offline is infinitely higher.
So, my friend, your CV is a dead document. Your new passport is your digital reputation. It’s your GitHub profile (for coders), your Behance portfolio (for designers), your blog (for writers), or your Upwork profile with 5-star reviews.
Start building your online presence today. Think of yourself as a global professional who happens to live in Africa.
From Job Seeker to Problem Solver
The Old Rule says: You were a “job seeker.” The mindset was passive: “Please, who is hiring? Where can I submit my CV?”
But reality says otherwise: The most valuable people are “problem solvers.” The mindset is active: “What is broken, and how can I use technology to fix it?”Look around.
We are a continent full of opportunities disguised as problems. The hard proof? Follow the money. Even in a globally “slow” venture capital market, African tech startups are raising billions.
In 2024, fintech alone secured over $1.04 BILLION in funding. Why? Because it’s not a “cool app,” it’s a solution to a massive problem: 57% of Africans do not have a traditional bank account.
This is the “leapfrog” model. We skipped landlines for mobile phones. Now, we are skipping: Slow, physical banks for instant fintech. Broken supply chains for agri-tech platforms. Crowded clinics for health-tech apps. Unreliable grids for cleantech and renewable energy solutions.
Notice a pattern? The biggest successes are not coming from people who “got a job” at an old company. They are coming from young people who got frustrated with a problem and decided to build the solution.
You do not need to be a startup founder to have this mindset. The most valuable employee is the “intrapreneur” who, instead of just doing their job, finds a way to use AI tools to automate a process, or uses data to find a new market, saving the company money and creating new value.
The most valuable freelancer is the one who, instead of just taking orders, tells the client, “I see the problem you’re really trying to solve, and here’s a better way to do it.”
So, my friend, change your mindset. Stop waiting to be chosen. Choose yourself. The next time you are frustrated by an inefficient system, a slow process, or a service that doesn’t work, ask yourself: “How could I fix this with a simple website, a mobile app, or an AI tool?”
The person who complains is a commodity. The person who builds the solution owns the future. The choice Is yours to make. These three shifts: Portfolio, Global, Problem-Solver, are not predictions. They are happening right now. They are interconnected, and they form a single, powerful strategy.
They can be terrifying if you are clinging to the old rules. Or, they can be the most empowering opportunity of your life. Your degree is a starting point, not a destination. Your location is no longer a barrier.
And the “problems” you see everywhere are invitations to create value. The tools are in your hands; literally, on your phone. The new game has begun. It’s time to learn the rules and play to win.
I’ll continue digging into these in future posts.
Thank you for reading this one.
– Destiny
