Recently, there has been a lot of focus on the role that entrepreneurship can play in the development of emerging and developing economies. Entrepreneurship is one of the drivers of sustainable economic growth, mainly because the new businesses that entrepreneurs create have the potential to drive and shape innovation, speed up structural changes in the economy, and introduce new competition – thereby contributing to productivity.
If properly harnessed, Africa’s youth bulge has the potential to translate into a dividend for the continent through the creation of enterprises that not only contribute toward economic growth but also create jobs for their fellow youth. Africa’s youth bulge is an opportunity, but only if it is leveraged for all it has to offer. Instead of expecting youth to be recipients of the results of economic growth, Africa’s youth need to be in the driving seat, initiating and creating that growth through entrepreneurship.
Despite the presence of a number of entrepreneurship hubs, many African countries do not have thriving support ecosystems that facilitate youth entrepreneurship. More intense efforts are required to bridge this gap, making existing support services from ‘entrepreneurship hubs’ and other service providers accessible to entrepreneurs in countries with less-developed support ecosystems.
While a significant number of resources exist to support youth entrepreneurship in Africa, there are still considerable gaps, with many youths lacking the support they need to either create or grow a business. There is no dedicated one-stop solution that caters to the needs of entrepreneurs across the continent, providing support to the entire spectrum of entrepreneurship sectors and stages of growth.
Some of the Project facilitators
November 12, 2018, remains a day to remember. In collaboration with Dekiruyo Africa, we impacted 44 youth with in-depth presentations on business ideas, activation plans, and how to leverage information and communication technology and social media for business growth, expansion, and international reach. Participants were also exposed to many leadership opportunities they could take advantage of as social change agents.
We are grateful to all our amazing facilitators who generously shared the result of their many years of hard work and expertise with the participants. It was awesome collaborating with Dekiruyo Africa. We keep building capacity, enhancing growth, and encouraging social impact.