Entrepreneur-led job creation critical for Africa’s rebooting

Lazarus Sauti

The MacKinsey Global Institute (MGI), the business and economics research arm of McKinsey & Company, established in 1990 to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving global economy, says Africa will add 122 million people to its labour force by 2020.

This means the continent’s labour force is growing strongly, and the number of new jobs that must be created to accommodate this demographic explosion is massive.

Africa’s opportunity, says the MGI, is to create sufficient stable employment to absorb this growing potential labour force. This, therefore, calls for African states to look for avenues to create employment for this demographic boom, currently unemployed as well as underemployed citizens, as aid cannot provide adequate employment for most young Africans entering the job market every year.

Nigerian Tony O. Elumelu, an economist by training, a visionary entrepreneur and a philanthropist, believes entrepreneur-led job creation is the part of the solutions to problems affecting Africans as it promotes socio-economic growth and creates stability as well as security on the continent.

“Entrepreneurship-led job creation is the most effective way to establish true prosperity since it can create sustainable wealth – the wealth that comes from employment and ownership, and that results in thriving markets and a healthy society,” said Elumelu, who is also the chairman of the United Bank for Africa and founder of Tony Elumelu Foundation.

Dr. Calestous Juma, professor at Harvard Kennedy School specialising in technological innovation and entrepreneurship for development, says entrepreneur-led job creation can create socio-economic opportunities where none seemingly exist and is, therefore, critical for Africa’s political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal rebooting.

“Entrepreneur-led job creation is a crucial element for socio-economic rebooting in African states. Consequently, African states need more entrepreneurs as they are drivers of economic growth,” he noted.

Yershen Pillay, a Social Sciences graduate from the University of Cape Town, majoring in Politics and Economics, adds that for a continent that is still trying to harness its own socio-economic expansion potential such as Africa, it is important to promote different activities that encourage entrepreneur-led development as well as social innovations.

“Enterprises – whether public or private – are the primary vehicle for turning knowledge into goods and services; they are the primary drivers of political, socio-economic and technological transformation.

“Because of this reason, it is important for countries in Africa to promote different activities that encourage entrepreneur-led job creation over and above and social innovations,” he said.

Supporting Pillay, the Economic Commission for Africa’s Economic Affairs officer, Laurent D’Aronco, asserts that for Africa to create new job markets and take a huge percentage of its citizens out of the poverty line, countries need to embrace entrepreneur-led development and diversify their sources of economic growth.

“Most Africans are jobless and living in abject poverty. To ensure that the continent creates employment and lifts its citizens out of poverty, countries need to embrace entrepreneur-led job creation, diversify and expand their sources of social and economic growth,” said D’Aronco.

Mateus Magala, a policy development economist, supports the idea that entrepreneur-led job creation can stimulate economic growth, and he urges Africa and her citizenry to support today’s entrepreneurs by creating policies that improve the enabling environment, an idea also supported by Elumelu.

“If we are to meet the challenge of creating jobs for the millions of Africans entering the workforce every year – and the millions who cannot find work today – we must support today’s entrepreneurs by creating policies that improve the enabling environment, so that millions of these potential job creators can succeed,” explained Elumelu.

To make the possible entrepreneurs more comfortable with the market environment, he adds that policy decision makers in African need to provide some kind of assurance that will promote a very conducive business environment for the entrepreneurs by enforcing flexible policies that can help in boosting the number of private entrepreneurs.

“With the right set of regulations, plans, strategies and policies, the continent of Africa can effectively encourage private entrepreneurs to take more proactive roles in addressing the different challenges that go hand-in-hand with the enhancement of business services as well as the provision of opportunities for innovation and competition,” Elumelu said.

Dr Juma asserts that political leaders, business leaders and philanthropists must promote entrepreneur-led job creation on a wide scale by adopting an African strategy if the continent is to benefit from vast human and natural resources.

“Without doubt, entrepreneur-led job creation can stand as a cornerstone to economic transformation and lift Africa out of its socio-economic challenges, but only if political and business leaders as well as philanthropists promote it on a wide scale,” explained Dr Juma.

He also urges government sectors to create and secure links between business and academia through using universities as incubators for new companies if the continent is to embrace entrepreneur-led job creation, re-industrialise and add value to its enormous natural and material resources.

“Universities serve as incubators of businesses and enterprises act as midwives of new knowledge-based universities. African governments must create and secure links between business entities and academia through using research and development institutions as well as universities as incubators for new enterprises,” he said.

Dr Juma added: “To effectively adopt entrepreneur-led job creation, governments must seriously invest in skills development. This is so because as businesses grow, they demand more technical knowledge and skills.”

Mariéme Jamme, a Senegalese-born, United Kingdom-based Chief Executive Officer, blogger, technologist and social entrepreneur, says investment is also required for the entrepreneurs to scale up their business.

“Productive entrepreneurs can invigorate the economy by creating jobs and new technologies, and increasing productivity; they can boost economic growth by introducing innovative technologies, products, and services.

“However, investment is of importance for entrepreneurs to transform economies. Governments and development partners need to promote entrepreneurship via financing avenues that scale up entrepreneur-led development models.”

Frankly, entrepreneurship has great untapped potential to drive the African continent into its next stage of social and economic development. All the continent needs is to promote entrepreneur-led job creation so as to create sustainable growth.

Ashish J. Thakkar, acclaimed Africa’s youngest billionaire and founder of the Mara Group and Mara Foundations, supports the idea: “To create sustainable growth and combat youth unemployment, African governments need to create a nurturing environment for young entrepreneurs and small to medium enterprises.

“They need to provide them with the tools to succeed, including granting tax incentives and creating more of an enabling environment.”