Entrepreneurship as the future of job creation in Africa
You see it everywhere you go in Sub Saharan Africa. People selling things in small roadside stalls, off a bicycle or motorbike, off their backs on the street. Vegetable stands and snacks for travellers along highways and mobile phone credit at every street corner in the cities. In landlocked Zimbabwe, importing goods and selling in a shop in town, or out of your car boot, is very common. Entrepreneurship and small businesses – they are ubiquitous with the continent.
And now a survey of 4,000 young people in four countries conducted by Forbes and Djembe Communications confirms that “JOB creation is the most important issue for the future of the continent……but Africa’s young people want to do it their own way – 72% of respondents prefer to start their own business, rather than look for work in an existing organisation.” Read the full article and report here: http://mgafrica.com/article/2015-10-18-you-can-keep-your-jobs-young-africans-say-they-want-to-start-their-own-businesses-survey.
Job creation was more important to those surveyed than issues such as corruption, health, sanitation or political stability. This is telling. Young people in Africa are both showing and telling us that their livelihoods – the ability to make a living, support themselves and their family – is what is really important to them. And what is more, they are not waiting around for the government or big business to create jobs, harness technology or innovate – they are willing to do it themselves. Their motivation for starting their own businesses may stem from a distrust of the ‘system’, of others, of the red tape, of the corruption and the formal economy – definitely in Zimbabwe this has proven to be fickle in the past. But whatever the motivation, this pervasive entrepreneurial spirit has massive potential if harnessed and nurtured and invested in.
And that is what we are about at lynneknight.org, and particularly through the INDIGO Group. Working to help these young, small businesses to really get off the ground and become sustainable, integrated into the formal economy and contributing to a brighter future for Africa.