This month the Afrolutionist looks deeply into African markets and economy in the rise of the 21st century and amidst modern world development. Today mine is simply to analyze to what extent African enterprise and the culture of entrepreneurship has prevailed in the African community. Since the dawn of the new era, African men and women have been seen at the forefront of entrepreneurship, using best their limited resources to provide for their families. When men went to seek employment at mines woman were left home to fend and care for their children. This brought certain women to commercializing agriculture. The inception of street vendors can be closely linked to this era.
The entrepreneurship culture at some point was halted by the need for education and the comfort and security of 9-5 jobs. In the 1970s to the 1990s more Africans took to education as a pivotal form for poverty eradication. Society deemed the way out of poverty to be getting educated and fitting into the working class. At this time Africa witnessed a rise in professionals in an assortment of fields, particularly in the civil service. A number of women became teachers, nurses, some bankers and so on. The men too went the same route, solders, policemen, and teachers too. At this time most African societies taught children at a young age that education and a job was the only way to live an improved lifestyle. Somehow this left a huge gap in the business sector for many African countries, a gap that was later on filled by multinational enterprises and expatriates from different countries. This saw a decline in the entrepreneurship culture.
In the dawn of the new millennium employment became a privilege even after graduating. A pool of graduates lingered at home with no employment due to congested fields. This now saw the interest in entrepreneurship. Unemployment yielded problems for governments and they sought to create opportunities for entrepreneurship amongst those in the demographic group. For they hoped that this will harness the aspiration of business owning and in turn create employment. National Youth policies and Youth enterprise funds were introduced and continue to emerge as an incentive to encourage entrepreneurship. Since the early 2000s entrepreneurship in Africa has reported a strong growth especially Small and Medium Enterprises though the in most African countries the scope still refuses to broaden into other fields.
As the entrepreneurship culture continues to reach great heights amongst the youth demographic who have proven to be the main drivers and pioneers working towards claiming our economy and restoring African success, we are in dire need of the help of our countries and the key players of the business sector. There is nothing we can achieve without the resources these institutions procure. As young people we hold the tools to diversification of the business arena. We are globally connected with peers from all over the world. Technology acts as a prime tool for connectivity globally, an instrument the youth has taken heed of. With the right guidance and motivation the youth are able to harness the gaps that are evident in the African economy and diversify. There is optimism that the youth as the future generation will be able to bring Africa at par to the global village in business and other sectors of economic growth.
