Youth entrepreneurship encouraged by higher education institutions as the number of unemployed graduates grows in Africa.
AllAfrica
By: Olubusuyi Adenipekun
Date: March 12, 2009
Lagos — The impact of the global financial crisis and its attendant mass unemployment and job losses has brought to the front burner the issue of youth entrepreneurship.
As the number of unemployed graduates in Nigeria continue to increase, many institutions of higher learning have appreciated the urgent need to promote youth entrepreneurship and self-employment by establishing Centres for Entrepreneurship Development on campuses.
Apart from the objective of reducing unemployment among graduates, youth entrepreneurship has many potential benefits. First, youth run enterprises have a direct effect on employment if new young entrepreneurs hire fellow youths which could help address some of the socio-psychological problems and delinquency that arise from joblessness.
The enterprises may also create linkages between youth entrepreneurs and other economic actors, such as those sub-contracting and so on.
In addition, youth entrepreneurship promotes innovation and resilience as it encourages young people to find new solutions, ideas and ways of doing things through experience-based learning.
In certain circumstances youth entrepreneurs may be responsive to new economic opportunities and trends. It is increasingly accepted that youth entrepreneurs can present alternatives to the organisation of work, the transfer of technology, and a new perspective to the market.
Unfortunately, Nigeria is a late starter in terms of a nationally co-ordinated small and medium enterprises (SME) development strategy in spite of these numerous benefits of youth entrepreneurship.
The fact that a national agency for SME's affairs was created in 2003 bears testimony to this assertion.
However, for the nation to reap the benefits of youth entrepreneurship as a viable career option, government must muster enough political will to address the problems facing the SME's squarely.
For instance, particular attention should be paid to industrial and technological intensive SMEs because in order to develop an economy, entrepreneurs must be empowered. Government needs to create an enabling environment, excellent infrastructure and friendly financial system.
Also government should make mathematics and science education a national priority by recruiting and boosting incentives for talented mathematics and science teachers as well as increase college aid for science and mathematics students.
Access to finance by micro, small and medium enterprises must be well liberalized. Continued assistance for business development and expansion after a year or two of operations remains almost absent. There should be unhindered access to micro-credit for young people.
There is also the need to expose the youth to skills training, business counselling, mentor support, access to working space, business expansion support and creating support networks.
The training should also be extended to service providers in order to improve their professional and technical competence, especially in the areas of programme conception, design, implementation and evaluation.
More importantly, the Nigerian schools must step up efforts in implementing new curricula which teach young people ideas that introduce them to concepts of self-employment.
This school-based entrepreneurship education programmes should work through the general education system, whether through the school themselves, or extra curricula programmes, or through universities and graduate schools in general.
