Promoting Youth Entrepreneurship in Africa – According to a report by the Overseas Development Institute, Kenya needs 600,000 new jobs each year until 2030 to provide opportunities for young people entering the labor market. In Nigeria, about 11 million new jobs are needed yearly for youth employment. The youth unemployment rate in Africa is expected to exceed 30% in 2019, and young people are 3.5 times more likely than adults to be unemployed. Entrepreneurship is important because it can provide employment opportunities for young people, and these opportunities could lead to more jobs. Youth entrepreneurs are more likely to hire fellow youths.

Entrepreneurship requires innovation and risk-taking. Currently, some youths lack the necessary knowledge and skills to either take risks associated with entrepreneurship or be innovative. With training on risk-taking and business skills, these youths could be more prepared and willing to take risks. African governments can promote entrepreneurship by providing capacity training for young people, developing a culture of entrepreneurship, and providing continuous support for youth entrepreneurs.

Provide Capacity Training

To promote entrepreneurship, African governments, through their education ministries, should provide capacity training for skills development. Developing youth skills through training can assist with building youth entrepreneurs’ capacity. African governments should aim to provide essential business knowledge and skills through their national education plan. Training could enable and prepare African youths to, possibly, choose an entrepreneurial path. Governments should include entrepreneurship training as part of universities’ or vocational schools’ curriculum. Governments should also provide training in high school so the youths could start considering entrepreneurship as a career option before they graduate from high school. One of the benefits of delivering capacity training in high schools, colleges, and universities is that even those students who want to become doctors or lawyers can benefit from entrepreneurship training. Entrepreneur capacity training is suitable for all students because other career choices, like doctors and engineers, could also become entrepreneurs in the future. Training can be useful across different career options.

Entrepreneurship as a Career Option – Presenting entrepreneurship as a career option similar to other career choices is another way to promote entrepreneurship among young people in Africa. As a matter of fact, students quickly choose familiar career options such as medical doctors, lawyers, and accountants when asked: “what do they want to be.” African governments should endeavor to include entrepreneurship as a viable career choice for students growing up in Africa. Including entrepreneurship as a career option could be achieved by introducing students early to entrepreneurship and also showing them successful African entrepreneurs. At KilSah Consulting, we provide entrepreneurship training to elementary, middle, and high school students, so they know at an early age that entrepreneurship is a viable career option too. Introducing entrepreneurial knowledge and skills to students in elementary, middle, and high school could help plant the seeds for entrepreneurship. Access to entrepreneurial skills at an early stage could have students thinking about pursuing a path of starting and running their own business.

Develop a Culture of Entrepreneurship

African governments should also strive to develop a culture of entrepreneurship by acknowledging and promoting youth entrepreneurs in their countries. Promote youth entrepreneurs by, a) supporting youth entrepreneurs and their businesses by showcasing their ventures on a national stage, b) dedicating agencies and resources to cater specifically to youth entrepreneurs’ interests, and c) providing ‘set-aside’ benefits or incentives for youth entrepreneurs.

Other measures to promote a culture of entrepreneurship in Africa are: support youth entrepreneurs’ creativity and innovation by respecting their crafts and have a locally acclaimed entrepreneur lead a campaign to promote entrepreneurship. Additionally, governments can create a youth entrepreneur day to showcase inventions and ideas and encourage consumers to support and purchase from youth entrepreneurs. Specific measures like these will help raise awareness that starting and running a business is a reputable career path which could be profitable in many ways.

Equally important in developing a culture of entrepreneurship among African youths is encouraging innovation. Allow young people to dream and think openly and freely without fear or judgment at school or in the community. In students’ learning environment, encourage outside-the-box thinking, and do not undermine their creativity. Allow young people to be innovative by nurturing their creativity and providing a space for them to be creative. All of these are ways to help change any underlying assumptions that undervalue entrepreneurship as an answer to the “what do you want to be when you grow up” question.

Provide Continuous Support

Continuous support for entrepreneurs is also vital to promoting youth entrepreneurship in Africa. Ongoing support can come in the form of providing incentives like access to finance, special set-aside incentives only for youth entrepreneurs, training, and other resources to assist entrepreneurs. The support provided needs to be consistent. Governments should provide ongoing support from the start of a new venture to the venture reaching a small or medium-sized enterprise. Supporting a venture until it reaches small or medium-sized level does not imply that small and medium companies do not also need support from the government because they also do. One of the goals here is to support new businesses and lessen the obstacles that prevent their growth. Youth entrepreneurs, especially new ones, need all the support they can get. Governments should provide a resource center where entrepreneurs and future entrepreneurs can reach out for assistance at all times and stages of their business. African governments should be intentional and consistent with the support they provide to young people who aspire to become entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurship involves willingness and risk-taking. By supporting entrepreneurs, governments could promote the desire in African youths to start a business, and also encourage entrepreneurs to take calculated risks. Current and future entrepreneurs need to know and understand the risks associated with their line of business and how to mitigate these risks and maintain their business.  

10 to 12 million young people are entering the job market in Africa annually. According to a study by IDRC Canada, youth entrepreneurship is an option to create employment for those entering the job market. Promoting youth entrepreneurship could enable young people in Africa to start and run businesses that grow and hire other people. Supporting youth entrepreneurship can assist in the fight to end poverty in Africa. African governments need to promote the benefits of entrepreneurship across the continent, which could help provide much-needed job opportunities.