Putting Africa’s Young Entrepreneurs First

Many of you watched my Facebook Live post addressing 3,000 young entrepreneurs at the Youth Connekt Summit in Kigali, Rwanda. I have received lots of feedback from you: TOE, why do you believe so much in African entrepreneurs. What refills this well of passion for Africa’s youth?

The answer is simple. As I have often reiterated, I believe that no one but us will develop Africa, and that it is Africa’s young entrepreneurs – not the public sector, not large corporates – that will build the Africa of the future, one job at a time, to create the Africa that we desire for ourselves.

Are my big dreams for Africa achievable? YES! They are achievable but to happen, we need to do things differently. Alongside my good friends, Akin Adesina and Vera Songwe, I made the call for three key issues we must FIX to CREATE economic hope and prosperity:

i) Agriculture: We have more arable land than any other part of the world yet we struggle to feed ourselves. Agriculture also employs the bulk of our people. Bottom line, to fix unemployment, we need to fix agriculture.

ii) Power: To power Africa out of poverty, we must fix access to power. We can’t deal with the issue of unemployment in Africa if we do not deal with access to electricity. Electricity facilitates productivity. 

iii) Entrepreneurship: From my own life experience, entrepreneurship is the engine of any economy. Young Africans want to become entrepreneurs but the local environment makes it very difficult for them to succeed. We must create a conducive environment that nurtures their dreams.

Earlier today, I engaged in an intimate breakfast roundtable discussion with Jack Ma, Founder of Alibaba and China’s richest man and other Chinese billionaires. This is what Africa needs now. The conversation between Africa and China has been largely government to government, but I welcome this shift that involves the private sector.

I spoke as an African who invests in many African countries, Europe, America – in the financial services sector and also in technology. I know for a fact that Africa is open for business, much more than ever before. The facts and stats tell us this. We have 1.2 billion people in Africa, 60% under the age of 30. This portends a huge market, with huge business opportunities for all discerning investors.

As I look around Africa, I only wish that people see the investment opportunities ripe on the continent, and begin to engage Africa in a different way. At no time in history have the African business class been more prepared: they have earned their skin in the game, embrace the highest corporate governance standards, and are genuine business partners.

Africa is ready for business and our youth are ready to be engaged productively. Our leaders – both political and business are ready, and most importantly, the market is ready.

There is no better way to create jobs for our young ones than through investments – both foreign and local. We need partners, friends, investors, to invest to create prosperity in Africa, prosperity for the rest of the world and security everywhere. Poverty anywhere is a threat to mankind anywhere.

Jack says like me, that he is inspired by African entrepreneurs, that he believes in you. In his own words, “Africa should have its own Alibaba owned by African youth - there is no reason why not, there is huge potential here.” We are aligned on many things.

To build the economy, we must empower and build small businesses, and like the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s $100m commitment to African entrepreneurship, we must water the plant of entrepreneurship in our youth. The public sector must implement favourable tax policies for small businesses. Why? Because SMEs are the future; they are the job creators.

The road may be long, but we have since embarked on this journey of walking side by side with you young entrepreneurs. We will continue to fund, mentor, train and provide you with opportunity to access key networks. 

I have never for one day doubted your creativity, your ingenuity, your capacity to transform our continent for good. I believe in you, all of you young Africans, and I promise to never stop.