International agribusiness expert and financial strategist, Dr Yemisi Lucy Adepoju, has warned that a toxic combination of family dependencies, societal pressure and a lack of investment structures is trapping millions of African salary earners in a “prison of financial struggle.”
At a book reading session for her new publication, “Broke After Payday? The Hidden Crisis Killing Employees’ Dreams, and How to Break Free,” Adepoju said the lack of institutional safety nets, such as functional student loans, forces fresh graduates into immediate financial caregiving roles, killing innovation across the continent.
“In Africa, as soon as you graduate, you are expected to take care of your family. Because everybody is financially stressed from day one, we don’t have innovators. Everyone is just struggling to survive. It is time to break that cycle,” Adepoju stated.
The financial expert expressed deep concern about the rising trend of employees falling prey to predatory lending apps and loan sharks, noting that peer pressure and curated social media lifestyles are fueling the crisis.
“I have seen situations where people receive their salary alerts, but they are already owing four different loan sharks. It is all driven by social pressure,” she said. “People see others celebrating new cars on social media or buying houses in the office, and they feel they must be in that space, even if it means constant borrowing.”
On legal limitations, Adepoju said civil servants are constitutionally permitted to engage in farming and emphasised that wealth creation does not require a physical presence on a farm or running a daily storefront
To legally bypass financial limitations, she advised workers to leverage commercial agriculture, investment cooperatives, and private equity.
“You don’t have to be physically on the farm. I haven’t been to my farm in a year, but I run a solid agricultural business that generates passive income,” she said.
