Then Men’s Conference has been canceled. Most people are celebrating Valentine’s Day!

A running joke in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa every year is that while women celebrate Valentine’s Day on February 14, men attend a fictional Men’s Conference in an undisclosed location. We sought out to establish the truth in that. It turns out, more male respondents (74.5%) who took the survey are celebrating this Valentine’s Day than females (73.3%)! Most of the respondents are celebrating (74% overall), with Ghana having the highest percentages of those who said “No”, consistent with both males and females.

Also worth noting is that even the singles are not being left behind this Valentine’s

Valentine’s Day Gifts

Valentine’s Day comes with buying a gift or doing something special for a significant other. As we have already established that most people are celebrating Valentine’s Day, it is no surprise that almost everyone celebrating is buying a gift. 85% of males plan to buy a gift, while 81% of females also plan to treat their loved ones to a gift. Close to 9% will not be buying gifts, and 7% will only buy a gift if prompted by their partners:

Gifts are so important that 55% of the respondents said they would be furious if their partners did not get them Valentine’s gifts.

Chocolates (19%), Jewellery (15%), and Flowers (12%) are the most popular gifts for Valentine’s. Only a few people (0.7%) who are celebrating Valentine’s do not plan to give a gift.

Would you like ideas for ideal Valentine’s gifts? Most people would love jewellery, chocolates, or a romantic dinner.

Valentine’s Date

Speaking of romantic dinners, we asked respondents what they planned to do on Valentine’s. For most (54%), the plan is to go out for dinner, the movies, or clubbing. Close to 16% will be spending quality time indoors with their partners, while a sizeable number will join their friends and families for Valentine’s.

In case you wanted to plan a surprise, you may want to hold back. Most people, especially females(70%), said they prefer that both partners make Valentine’s Day plans together. Another 33% total want the guy to plan for the couple.

Have a Happy Valentine’s Day today (and every day)!

The post Valentine’s Day: Who’s Celebrating, Gifts, Dates & More appeared first on GeoPoll.

Africa is known as a young continent for a reason. It is estimated that 75% of Africa’s population is under the age of 35, which means that many of the continent’s sectors depend on the welfare of the youth. When youth spend, save, and invest money, they have a huge impact on their country’s economy.

It is against this background that we recently surveyed over 2,000 respondents aged 35 and under in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria, and Cote d’Ivoire to examine how Africa’s youth in six nations are engaging with financial services.

Without further ado, let’s go through some findings from the survey, specifically on how the youth in Africa spend, save, and invest.

Where do the youth get their money?

To spend, save, and invest, you must have income. So, we started by looking at the main sources of income among the youth. 77% of the respondents said their main source of income was employment, including self -employment. Parents provide income for 34%, and some even get money from betting!

What do the youth mostly spend on?

The study found out that the largest average share of monthly spending was for food, school fees (education), rent, and clothing, in that order. In an era of massive digitization driven by the youth, mobile airtime forms a sizeable spend for the youth. There are other common spends by the youth, such as beauty and hygiene products, entertainment, and gambling.

Read: How to earn with GeoPoll

How do they spend?

Even as the use of mobile money and credit cards continues to grow, GeoPoll’s study finds cash remains the most popular payment method. Cash is especially popular with day to day spends like transport, beauty products, non-alcoholic drinks, and groceries. Mobile money, also quite popular, is used for online betting, internet, airtime, and pay-TV. Credit/debit cards are mostly used for video streaming services, insurance, nicotine products, and betting.

Bigger payments like school fees, savings, insurance premiums, and rent respectively, are mostly made through bank deposits.

Saving

Do you save before you spend, or do you save what remains after you spend? Do you set aside a fixed amount, a percentage of whatever you earn, or simply whatever remains? Well, we sought this information in the survey, and the results are diverse across the countries.

For example, more youth in Tanzania and Uganda set aside a fixed amount to save than in Nigeria and Ivory Coast, who are more likely to save what remains after spending. The good news is, most youth frequently set aside some money as savings, although there are some who rarely save or don’t have a savings account.

Why the youth save money

We asked the respondents who said they were saving why they save. With insurance uptake not particularly a priority for most of us, emergencies and medical care are some of the top driving forces for saving among the youth. Other reasons for saving are future goals, education, and to accumulate wealth and buy property, in that order.

Investment

Speaking of wealth accumulation and property, we found that Nigeria was by far the country with the largest investment culture among the youth – an impressive 84% of the respondents said they invest their money. Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, and Ivory Coast followed in that order in the rate of youth investing, compared to those that don’t.

Where the youth most invest in

Among the youth that do invest, business (42%) and farming (34%) were the most popular investment categories reported across the six countries surveyed. Could this be due to accessibility and the fact that business and farming can be invested in little-by-little over time with relatively low risk? This is as compared to buying land, building real estate and stock exchange, which, overall, come third, fourth and fifth, respectfully.

Challenges keeping youth from investing

Given that most youth would want to invest and create wealth, there are challenges that cause many from investing. Lack of money was the most commonly cited challenge, followed by other commitments and low income and lack of knowledge in investment.

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This survey gives good indications on the use of and access to financial services, as well as financial practices by the youth in Africa. So, which category do you and your friends fall into in each of the sections? Tell us on Facebook!

Take part in such surveys by joining the GeoPoll Community.

The post Money: How the Youth in Africa Earn, Spend, Save and Invest appeared first on GeoPoll.