It is perfectly true that entrepreneurship has become an increasing demand in Africa and most of the continent’s populace are taking interest in this growing field. Africa is blessed with awesome entrepreneurs of which I may be unable to state all their names in this piece of writing. Some of these notable entrepreneurs include; Dr. Cosmos Maduka, Isabel Dos Santos, Foloronsho Alakija, Judy Dlamini, Aliko Dangote, Pascal Dodzie, Wendy Applebaum, Christo Wiese, Narendra Raval, Nicky Oppeinheimer, Stephen Saad, Reginald Mengi, Tim Tebeila, Mike Adenuga, Herman Mashaba, Sudhir Ruparelia, Mohammed Dewji, AbdulSamad Rabiu. Adrian Gore, Patrice Motsepe, Strive Masiyiwa, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, Femi Otedela, Kalu Orji Uzor, Jim Ovia, Sam Jonah, Joseph Agyapong and a whole lot of others from this continent.
We do appreciate their efforts and their enormous contribution towards the growth of this continent, Mama Africa.
Wait! with a lot of resources and a whole lot of societal, political, economic and technological situations in Africa, I ask, what is the future of entrepreneurship in Africa? Are we ready and prepared for the next stages of entrepreneurship in our continent? It was estimated in 2016 that Africa is the world’s second largest and second most-populous continent with an estimation of 1.216 billion with 58 countries in total. But the question lies on our faith in embracing entrepreneurship to suit the globalization trend and to make Africa a better place to live.
Day in- Day-out our population increases and the demand for various jobs also increase. The government cannot employ all of us in our various portfolios and expertise. The rest of us cannot stay in the house waiting for jobs to come to our homes. Also, the private businesses cannot absorb all of us. Are Africans ready to create their own jobs? Are Africans ready to embark on the entrepreneurial journey? It is quite fascinating when we speak bitterly about unemployment rate issues in our continent.
According to Africa Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), 50% of graduates do not find jobs after school. But most of us do forget that we all have God’s given talent and in as much as possible some of us also learn to do certain stuffs on their own. Normally, I do tell people entrepreneurship is a calling, an in-born thing or it can be trained. It is perfectly true that we all cannot be entrepreneurs but a knowledge in entrepreneurship would increase your design thinking capacity. I wish our leaders would revisit our educational curriculum and make entrepreneurship course mandatory in our educational sector. I believe this would boost and ginger majority of our youth to embrace entrepreneurship and increase their business acumen whiles in school.
The future of entrepreneurship is very bright in Africa. Most of us in this continent are reluctant to be part of this journey. We believe that right after school we have to get a lucrative job or work in a corporate environment as a sense of relieve from societal pressures. I would be more elated if a lot of the youth partake in this colossal field called “ENTREPRENEURSHIP”.
About The Author
The writer, Emmanuel Amo-Bediako is an entrepreneur and a financial enthusiast. He is the CEO & founder of Terbo Africa, an entrepreneurship platform. He is an Associate member of Association of Certified Chartered Economics (ACCE) and a candidate of Chartered Global Investment Analyst (CGIA). He holds Master of Science in Economics and Bachelor of Science in Physics all from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
