Entrepreneurial Revolution - in the light of nation building.

For Nigeria to be great, we do not need either miracle or magic, but both individual and collective, conscious and sustained efforts. An overview of development benchmark reports explicate the state of progress and how we fare amongst other nations of the world. The Global Competitiveness Index which measures the ability of countries to afford sustainable prosperity for their citizens on the basis of how accessible resources are productively used. In 2019,the Global Competitiveness annual report ranks Nigeria 115th out of 140 countries, below the likes of Mauritius, South Africa, Kenya and Egypt, in spite being the largest economy in Africa.

Evidences from around the world point to entrepreneurship as an extraordinary means for development. Over the last six decades, entrepreneurial efforts have sparked advancements in technology, economies of scale in production, market expansions, and the creation and use of knowledge - leading to the rise of knowledge-based economies such as Finland, Sweden, Denmark to mention a few. We find a brilliant example in the renowned Asian Tigers – comprising of South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan economies. Also, not too far-fetched are success stories of rapidly growing economies in Sub-Saharan Africa such as Ethiopia, Rwanda and Ghana. In this part of this world unfortunately, the government addresses development in a manner that is devoid of guidelines, a model or holistic approach. As a pointer, the current Economic Recovery Growth Plan (2017-2020) pays little attention in its scope to entrepreneurial development.

It is high time we awoke a revolution for an all-round decent working condition, start-up friendly environment, appropriate infrastructure, purposeful industrial drive, and support for innovation and economic growth, and in all, sustainable development. An entrepreneurial revolution with direction, purpose and control that will permeate all social/business spheres, industries and sectors of the economy and as a consequence, triggers the emergence of an ecosystem encompassing elements within our socio economic environment that will prominently arouse and sustain the teeming youths, graduates and entrepreneurs.

As a matter of fact, Great nations are built by men with vision and purpose (entrepreneurs) – the likes of the Men who helped build America (John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford amongst others). The big question is how do we build such ecosystem?. The answer is not far-fetched, it is an entrepreneurial ecosystem framework sorted-out in domains which include policy, finance, culture, support services, human capital and market.

POLICY

First and foremost, the right set of policies and regulations are quintessential for building an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Above all, the role of the government in this respect cannot be overemphasized; we need to avail ourselves the benefits democracy and federalism by upholding its values and principles through inclusive governance practices. Besides, the burden of policy issues cannot be handled by government only; they should engage and leverage on the equally important private sector – SMEs, large domestic and multinational enterprises - for growth. Being the largest economy in Africa, we need effective institutions – regulatory, finance and public institutions; legislations that are enterpise friendly i.e. protect local and foreign investors; huge investments into research and development to propel technological innovations; rigorous assessment and review of how development programmes/plans that commensurately contribute to entrepreneurial development and lastly, foreign policy, diplomacy and international relations that aligns with our development targets. In addition, structural barriers (bureaucracy) like complex tax regimes, audit and legal practices that stifle entrepreneurship must be eliminated; “to build entrepreneurial management into existing public institutions may thus be the foremost political task of this generation” - Peter Drucker.

CULTURE

Nigeria is great because Nigeria is ‘big’, composed of several diverse cultures, tribes and ethnic groups. However, numerous consequences of the high degree of social stratification such oppression, discrimination ethical robbery, ethnocentrism, social injustice etc. have for long threatened our development. In building a strong entrepreneurship ecosystem, we need to take on cultural change – perceived as opportunity rather than threat; self-renewal is therefore a responsibility on every individual to replenish lost societal norms, ethics and our value system as a whole. Our international reputation must be redeemed. Corruption persistently remains a pressing issue to our development – a PwC report on ‘Impact of corruption on Nigerian economy’ estimates corruption in Nigeria could cost up to 37% of GDP by 2030, if we do not deal with it with firmness. Consequently, the predominant “Go to school, Get a good job” notion in our family systems inculcated by most parents needs to change; the society at large should tolerate risk taking & failures/mistakes, encourage innovation, creativity and experimentation. Elicit social status should be accorded to entrepreneurs, they deserve to be celebrated and their line of thought made desirable alongside professionals such as lawyers, accountants, engineers, doctors, etc.

Within societies, the family is the most important unit – “There is nothing quite like the entrepreneurial spirit that sparks the launch and spurs the growth of a family business” (KPMG – Nigeria Family Business Barometer, 2018). Family-owned businesses (FOBs) are breeding grounds for entrepreneurs; they generate lion’s share of annual global GDP and create most jobs in majority of nations worldwide. If Nigeria must thrive, FOBs must survive, grow and exceed extraordinarily. Lastly, media – such as social media and print media should be effectively used to advance cultural change with credibility in information disseminated; objective and constructive criticism of public issues, and featuring of role models/niche influencers (people of integrity and esteemed character).

HUMAN CAPITAL

Human Development Index in 2017 puts Nigeria at 157th among 187 countries with the value of education at 0.457, compared to the average of 0.939 in the US. These statistics show level of unskilled and skilled workforce and relative differences between them. Entrepreneurship ecosystem requires large pool of skilled workforce (educated); rise of entrepreneurs – intrapreneurs, technopreneurs, social entrepreneurs, ecopreneurs, infopreneurs to mention a few; professionals and academics with right expertise for entrepreneurial drive. We must start to look beyond outdated apprenticeship/journeyman skill acquisition practices to a more formalised and modern systems, institute several trainings for entrepreneurship, ICT, STEM and digital skills. We must also address the erroneous educational philosophy of “acquiring certificates” and “peak of learning attainment” predominant among adults; instead, continuous learning and relearning process with integrity should be instilled. Moreover, there is the need to craft a master plan for human development to eliminate redundancy across board and reverse brain drain syndrome to achieve brain gain.

SUPPORT

Pursuing entrepreneurial evolution will be a futile effort without proactive support from government, NGOs and professional support; as it ultimately helps entrepreneurs compete better. Such supports come in different forms, quintessentially infrastructural supports like telecommunications (mobile and digital), effective transport system (land, rail, water and air), security infrastructure and energy (power supply); access to educational institutions that teach entrepreneurship in practice to secondary and tertiary students; universities for R&D collaborations; standard agencies and social innovation activities in public institutions. Notably, the revolution is making big strides with incubators and clusters like Cc-Hub, Civic Innovation Lab, Hebron Start-up Lab and others across the nation that are centres of high potential and growth enterprises; their role in the success of start-ups and entrepreneurs cannot be overemphasised. Supports also come from venture-oriented professionals e.g. law-accounting firms, investment banking, tech experts (IT and engineering), business advisory and support services amongst others. From not-for-profit institutions, NGOs, industry associations, entrepreneur networks/community and MNCs (as a kind of socio-economic responsibility) that advocate entrepreneurship through empowerment programmes, conferences, business plan/idea pitch contests, start-up clubs etc. Frameworks and advocacy for financial inclusion, equality, diversity, social inclusion and environmental sustainability also need to be implemented in order to sustain and further economic development.

FINANCE

Furthermore, as much as we induce thriving entrepreneurs, investors must be readily available within the ecosystem to bring the ideas into reality. Nigerian start-ups raised $9.2 million in Q1 2018 (Techpoint Africa) in grants; more is needed in form of loans and equity from banks, angel investors, friends & families, venture capitalists, public capital markets amongst others. Government most especially should advance more investment programs through Development Finance Institutions. Financial support from foundations thus far like Facebook/FATE foundation, Tony Elumelu Foundation, Google for startups and Ford Foundation have been quite instrumental in driving the economy.

MARKET

Nigeria is an emerging market where new business structures are arising from digitalisation, outsourcing, platforms/networks, globalisation, e-commerce and Fintech, resulting in increase in buyer/consumer power. For youth-owned enterprises to compete with the ecosystem, they must adopt new processes (innovation) leveraged on IT, evolve new business models for adaptability to changing consumer behaviour and respond to competitive landscape.

Conclusively, besides the enormous roles government has to play, several interacting sectors, industries, and big players with evolved culture and attitudes are crucial in sparking the desired development. The domains are interconnected and interdependent, government should approach them as whole to avoid losing sight of what follows. Entrepreneurial revolution is meant to be a learning process as it spans decades.

It is up to us now, those of us who shape the destiny of our countries, to do what we can to improve matters…mere resolutions, mere commendations is not enough; it is time for ACTION ~ Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. And while we pursue development to meet the needs of the present, we must never compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.