Why Young Africans Should Ditch Mickey Mouse Degrees & Learn Apprenticeship Trades Instead

Why Young Africans Should Choose Apprenticeship Trades Over Mickey Mouse Degrees

The debate over the value of higher education has reached a boiling point. Across Africa and beyond, young people are being told that a university degree is their ticket to success. Yet many are finding themselves burdened with debt, holding certificates that employers dismiss as irrelevant. It is time for young Africans to rethink the path to prosperity and recognise that skilled trades and apprenticeships offer more opportunity, stability and dignity than so-called “Mickey Mouse degrees.”

The Global Call for Trades

On 30 September 2025, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang made a startling declaration. Speaking to Channel 4 News in the UK, he said:

“If you’re an electrician, you’re a plumber, a carpenter—we’re going to need hundreds of thousands of them to build all of these factories. The skilled craft segment of every economy is going to see a boom. You’ve going to have to be doubling and doubling and doubling every single year” (Fortune, 30 September 2025).

This was not idle talk. Nvidia, the world’s most valuable chipmaker, is currently worth over US$2.6 trillion (R49.6 trillion). Huang, who co-founded the company in 1993, has a personal net worth of over US$70 billion (R1.3 trillion). The company’s success has created thousands of wealthy employees—reports suggest that more than 400 Nvidia staff members have become millionaires from stock options alone. Huang himself admitted that if he were 20 again, he would choose physical sciences or trades over software.

Hopewell Chin’ono, the Zimbabwean journalist and filmmaker, amplified this message to his 600,000 followers on X on 1 October 2025. He wrote that trades guarantee livelihoods while “Mickey Mouse” degrees often do not. Zimbabwean influencer Joseph Hussein, popularly known as King Jay on social media, echoed Huang, lamenting that “vapfanha vedu [our children] don’t want to listen.”

CEOs Sound the Alarm

Huang is not the only leader warning about the crisis of undervalued trades. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, worth around US$1.2 billion (R23 billion), has publicly told American policymakers that the shortage of electricians could cripple the AI-driven data centre boom. Ford CEO Jim Farley, with an estimated net worth of US$20 million (R380 million), has echoed these concerns, arguing that the United States cannot hope to reshore manufacturing without skilled tradesmen to make it possible.

Their warnings are not theoretical. A single 250,000-square-foot data centre employs up to 1,500 construction workers during its build-out—many of whom earn six-figure incomes without a university degree. These jobs, as Huang stressed, are multiplying rapidly across the globe.

The Western Shift Away from University-Only Thinking

Interestingly, the same shift is taking place in Britain. On 30 September 2025, Prime Minister Keir Starmer scrapped Tony Blair’s 1999 target of sending 50 per cent of pupils to university. Instead, Starmer set a new goal: two-thirds of under-25s should pursue either university, further education, or a “gold standard apprenticeship” (BBC, 30 September 2025).

Starmer declared at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool:

“I don’t think the way we currently measure success in education—that ambition to get 50 per cent of kids to uni—I don’t think that’s right for our times. Because if you’re a kid who chooses an apprenticeship, do we genuinely afford them the same respect? Because we should” (Independent, 30 September 2025).

His government has pledged nearly £800 million (US$976 million, R18.3 billion) for colleges and apprenticeships. Manufacturers’ groups, educators and economists all praised the shift, calling it “truly significant.”

The Harsh Reality of Mickey Mouse Degrees

Meanwhile, universities in Britain are under fire for offering “Mickey Mouse degrees.” The Telegraph (11 September 2025) reported that Labour’s immigration crackdown could bankrupt institutions overly reliant on foreign student fees. Many of these universities produce low-value degrees, where graduates earn under £25,000 (approximately US$30,500, R573,000) even five years after graduation.

An analysis by The Telegraph on 14 August 2025 showed that photography graduates earn an average of just £23,030 (US$28,130, R528,000). This is a poor return for a degree that can leave students with debts of more than £45,000 (US$55,000, R1 million). In contrast, apprenticeships allow young people to earn while learning, leaving them debt-free and employable.

Even in Zimbabwe, young humanities graduates often struggle for years to find stable employment, while welders, builders, and auto mechanics are in high demand daily. Yet, as Chin’ono observed in his reply to a young woman with a photography degree, such qualifications only have value “if you can earn from it.”

What Are Mickey Mouse Degrees?

The term “Mickey Mouse degrees” has been widely debated in Britain, particularly as tuition fees continue to rise. While all degrees have a purpose and every academic pursuit adds to society’s knowledge, some qualifications offer limited job prospects and financial returns.

According to UK government reports, media coverage, and think tank studies, degrees often labelled as “Mickey Mouse” include but are not limited to:

Photography – average salary five years after graduation is £23,030 (US$28,130, R528,000).
Criminology – graduates average £23,420 (US$28,650, R539,000).
Geography – average £23,445 (US$28,680, R540,000).
Translation Studies – average £23,498 (US$28,750, R541,000).
Media Studies – criticised for modules of questionable rigour, with graduates often underpaid.
Dance and Performing Arts – culturally valuable but offer few entry-level jobs.
Film Studies – oversubscribed with graduates earning well below national averages.
Fashion Studies – only a small minority break into sustainable, high-earning roles.
Sports Science (non-specialised courses) – many graduates find themselves in unrelated jobs.
Hospitality and Tourism (general degrees) – where pay progression is slow and unstable.
Certain Fine Arts courses – enriching, but financially precarious unless graduates pivot into business or sales.

It is important to stress that these degrees are not worthless. Creative industries, culture, research, and teaching all benefit from them. However, the reality—acknowledged even by UK Prime Minister Starmer’s government—is that too many young people are being channelled into courses that saddle them with lifelong debts while providing little utility in terms of stable employment.

Easier Migration For Skilled Zimbabweans

For Africans in general, and Zimbabweans in particular, the benefits of trades go beyond local employment. The United Kingdom currently faces acute shortages of skilled labour, particularly in construction, plumbing, and electrical work. Journeymen who hold recognised qualifications in these trades find it significantly easier to secure UK work visas under the country’s skilled migration pathway.

In fact, many Zimbabweans with technical qualifications in carpentry, welding or electrical engineering have successfully migrated to Britain in recent years, often earning more in their first few years abroad than graduates back home make in a decade. This pathway remains one of the most realistic routes for young Africans who want to escape unemployment and support their families.

Why Africa Must Heed This Lesson

Africa faces the highest youth unemployment in the world. In South Africa, youth unemployment is above 43 per cent. In Zimbabwe, hundreds of thousands of graduates leave university every year with no prospects. Yet qualified tradesmen—bricklayers, carpenters, electricians—can find themselves overbooked and underpaid for the sheer volume of work demanded.

This contradiction exposes the truth: young Africans have been sold the idea that prestige lies in white-collar work, while the real wealth lies in the sweat of skilled hands. The continent desperately needs builders, engineers, plumbers, and technicians to construct factories, repair infrastructure, and drive industrialisation.

If Britain, with all its resources, is pivoting towards apprenticeships, how much more urgent is it for Africa to abandon Mickey Mouse degrees and embrace skills training?

Respecting the Dignity of Work

There is dignity in work. A qualified carpenter or electrician in Africa today can earn more than a graduate with a humanities degree. Yet societal prejudice still pushes young people into classrooms instead of workshops. That thinking must end.

As Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Ford’s Jim Farley, Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and African voices like Hopewell Chin’ono and King Jay all stress, the future belongs to trades. Young Africans cannot afford to waste years on degrees that lead nowhere. They must seize the opportunities that apprenticeships and skills training offer. The choice is not just personal; it is about Africa’s economic survival.