Securing the “Africa We Want” Through Youth Entrepreneurship

Securing the “Africa We Want” Through Youth Entrepreneurship

“The Africa we want” is the African Union’s rallying cry. It is also the slogan for AGENDA 2063 touted to be “Africa’s blueprint for transforming Africa into the global powerhouse of the future.”

The slogan for this year’s agenda begs the question: who will transform and shape Africa into the future global powerhouse?

I recently attended the African CEO’s Roundtable Conference held at the Dubai 2020 Expo and hosted by the African Union Commission.

The Conference discussed a range of issues including private sector development, trade, and investments in Africa within the framework of Agenda 2063.

Conspicuously absent from the discussions was a meaningful examination of the role of youth entrepreneurship in African development, trade, and investment.

Indeed, Africa can be a global powerhouse if it is able to engage its youth population and particularly energize and significantly increase the size of youth entrepreneurs.

Africa has the youngest population of any continent with 40 percent of the population under age 15 in 2021 and median age hovering at a low of 20, compared to the global median of 30.

Africa has the lowest unemployment rate globally (10.6 percent in 2021 among ages 15-24) but that belies the fact most of them work in the informal sector, are underemployed and trapped in poverty.

With Africa’s population growing exponentially and diminishing youth employment opportunities, the agenda 2063 dreams of “The Africa we want” may prove to be nothing more than a pipedream.

The question is what to do with Africa’s “youth bulge” and transform this bulge into a labor “demographic dividend” that sustains inclusive economic growth instead of a mass of unemployed youth “demographic bomb” that could trigger political unrest, social strife, and outmigration from Africa.

The silver lining in the cloud of doom and gloom is that Africa’s growing youth population can drive Africa’s prosperity and create “The Africa we want” because of the potential for youth to use technology.

In other words, the power that will drive the African powerhouse of the future is African youth making use of technology and innovation in Africa’s “digital economy” through creative pursuit and exploitation of “economic activity that results from billions of everyday online connections among people, businesses, devices, data, and processes.”

If Africa is to achieve its dreams of Agenda 2063, it will be necessary to create an environment where creative youth entrepreneurship can thrive and flourish. We must support and invest in African Youth entrepreneurship.

This is no pipedream. The African Development Bank reports Africa has the highest entrepreneurship rate in the world at 22%.

Even more amazing is the fact that “Africa’s female entrepreneurship rate is also the highest in the world; 27 percent of the female adult population is engaged in early-stage entrepreneurial activity. This means African women are twice as likely to start a business as women elsewhere in the world.”

Recognizing the importance of youth entrepreneurship and reduction of unemployment, the Ethiopian government pursues twin priorities “promoting a more inclusive working environment for the youth and enhancing the conditions of the youth in the labor market.”

But certain challenges remain: 1) availability of capital, 2) access to technical vocational training, 3) financial and technical support at the local level to increase youth self-employment, and 4) improvements in youth access to communication outlets and market information.

The traditional approach of youth seeking government jobs after graduation or uneducated youths working in public works programs as a career option are no longer tenable.

The traditional manufacturing and industrial sectors which have been the engines of economic growth and employment will not be able to provide adequate jobs to the exponentially growing youth population within the framework of Agenda 2063.

Foreign direct investments in Africa which target mining and minerals are unlikely to provide the jobs to help us build “The Africa we want.”

Entrepreneurship is the only practical way to provide Africa’s youth with economic opportunities and a degree of control over their own economic future. 

The African Union Commission CEO’s Roundtable Conference was an excellent forum to address issues of trade and investment.

But the African Union Commission should also strongly consider an African youth entrepreneurs conference to discuss and make recommendations on how African youth can make singular contributions to Agenda 2063 and the building of “The Africa we want.”

Such a conference should have a clear and practical agenda built around key issues and needs to establish successful youth entrepreneurship culture in Africa.

Almost a decade ago, Ethiopia in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program launched a three-year Entrepreneurship program to strengthen the entrepreneurial competencies of several hundred business owners in management and operations and impart knowledge and skills to potential entrepreneurs.

But a broader strategy is needed to engage the African private sector to support African youth develop a broad range of entrepreneurial skills.

An African Union-sponsored youth entrepreneurs conference could focus on certain key elements. I would suggest mentorship as a critical element of youth entrepreneurship. This is common practice in the U.S. 

Experienced entrepreneurs give guidance and advice to their less-experienced colleagues and rain them in business skills, marketing, and financing.

Related to this is the creation of youth entrepreneurship associations for self-help and for sharing lessons learned, failures and successes.

Another topic of importance is youth involvement and participation in African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA).

There is no doubt AfCTFA will create massive entrepreneurship opportunities for African youth as trade barriers are removed and there is a free flow of goods and

services among African countries.

But there are no mechanisms in place for such engagement.

How could young African entrepreneurs secure capital?

How can they be connected to markets in the West, within Africa and within their own countries?

Can African entrepreneurs ride the “crypto wave” and help Africa leapfrog by building an infrastructure to utilize electronic money? This is another critical topic for a youth conference.

It is particularly important to engage African youth entrepreneurs in policy formulation, program design and implementation.

Lip service to youth as the future of Africa will not produce the future Africa we want.

It will only produce an alienated and marginalized youth population that will create additional burdens for Africa.

The future of Africa we want will be determined by the energy, synergy, skill, and engagement of the present generation of youth entrepreneurs.

By: Michael Buzuayehu, Managing Director,

Corporate Services & Family Office

East African Holding S.C