More youth seize business breaks to beat tough times
Necessity is the mother of invention — and more young people are taking heed of this. The high cost of living is pushing many of them to venture into business to cope with the changing times.
Due to the constant increase in the price of fuel, growing inflation, surge in food costs and increasing interest rates, many Kenyans and Africans at large are finding themselves in tight financial positions — struggling to make it to the next payday.
A White Paper by African Development Bank (AfDB) Entrepreneurship and Free Trade: ‘Africa’s Catalysts for a New Era of Economic Prosperity’, says 22 per cent of Africa’s working-age population are starting side businesses to mitigate the effects of harsh economic times.
“The 22 per cent, which is the highest rate of any region in the world, especially the youth, are moving toward setting up their own businesses to make a living,” the report reads.
Vulnerably employed
AfDB says out of Africa’s over 400 million youth, approximately one third are “unemployed and discouraged”, one third are “vulnerably employed”, and less than one in six are in “wage employment.”
Overall, more than nine out of 10 African youth are employed in the informal sector, while over a quarter of a billion African youth will lack an economic stake in the system by 2025.
On average, 10 to 12 million youths enter the labour market each year, yet the continent only generates 3.1 million jobs.
To counter this disparity, the White Paper explains that entrepreneurship must be at the heart of efforts to transform Africa’s economic prospects.
The sudden boom in entrepreneurs has prompted Growth Africa, an accelerator and advisory firm delivering growth activities for impactful African ventures, to initiate training for business ventures on the continent.
Already, 79 ventures recruited from a pool of 864 applicants from across five countries — Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Ethiopia and Zambia — have revealed that entrepreneurs are more malleable and willing to learn how to advance their business ventures and grow them exponentially.
The 79 ventures are part of the GrowthAfrica Accelerator Programme, an intensive tailor-made scheme to help them understand, analyse, elevate, and implement strategies that will support the growth of their businesses.
“From recruitment to rollout, the entrepreneurs’ eagerness to learn and grow has been notable, compared with the previous cohorts we have had.
“This shift in attitude can be attributed to the lessons drawn from the Covid-19 pandemic, which made us more deliberate and open when presented with opportunities,” said Patricia Jumi, the executive director and co-founder of GrowthAfrica.
More determined
Interaction with the business ventures showcased that, compared with the pre-Covid period, they are more determined and open to new strategies that will positively impact their businesses, and help them operate in a sustainable way.
GrowthAfrica Accelerator is tailored to help ventures scale their profitability as businesses, and make them investment ready, while also developing their businesses and leadership acumen.
“Through this, our entrepreneurs build a thorough understanding of all components of their business ventures, internal and external realities, and their interdependencies — identifying the challenges to growth and using this to develop a comprehensive, implementation-ready growth plan,” states the executive director.
