Building an Entrepreneurial Africa- A Roadmap for ECOWAS - By Shulammite Paul

 

‘The surest way to beat the gun is a job’. This quote in its many forms has been reiterated by Anti-gun-America activists. Crime does not pay, yet many youths know no other means of survival. Governments world over spend millions of dollars in allocated funds to fight crime and provide social security for the unemployed. It is no gains say that the sure ways to keep the youth away from crime and engender societal productivity, thereby boosting the economy are to engage and get them engaged sustainably. While jobs provide immediate respite and gives a sense of activity, entrepreneurship stirs up a complete mental, physical and emotional overhaul. Entrepreneurs are better employees, leading to improved organizational productivity, innovation and competitiveness. As employers of labour, entrepreneurs set up transitional economic systems able to adapt systemic and environmental change over time. The need for building an entrepreneurial society cannot be over emphasized. While not insisting on turning every youth to a new venture manager, entrepreneurial mindset divests a nation of age old syndrome of insisting on steep bureaucratic processes that stifles innovation and change, with lots of friction and low coordination, giving way to a new economy that is fast, sure (with precision), information based with open communication. There must be deliberate policy actions by the Government and policy makers to embrace change, embed entrepreneurial mindset, and build an entrepreneurial society. Entrepreneurship policies support the design of initiatives and institutions to promote entrepreneurship, such policies set out a general direction and specific targets towards achieving an entrepreneurial society.

 Global Focus

The OECD In its compendium of entrepreneurship policies, appreciate ‘business creation as the driver of economic growth and job creation, generating innovations and contributing to economic efficiency through competition’ (2017, 2018a). However, it sees the path to entrepreneurship as an alternative course for those ‘disadvantaged in the labour market’. This is rather ironic, as something so significant should not play second fiddle, rather, it must be seen as the first path of choice with others taken as alternatives. Regardless of this position, the OECD went ahead to recognize institutional, market, and behavioral failures as major obstacles and barriers to entrepreneurship development and emphasized the need for entrepreneurship policy as the panacea for addressing these barriers and securing the economic and social benefits of entrepreneurship.

To Support the development of sustainable and inclusive entrepreneurship policies in nations and regions across the world, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), developed a framework to assist nations design entrepreneurship strategies, optimize regulatory environment, monitoring and evaluation, enhance education and skills development, facilitate technology exchange, advocacy and networking.

Reiterating the importance of entrepreneurship policy and the need for caution in policy development, Karlsson Charlie and Anderson Martin (2009) stated that right conditions are necessary to apply narrow entrepreneurship policies, hence, nations at the fledgling state of imbibing entrepreneurial tenets, should begin with policies directed towards creating the right environment prior to instituting specific and sophisticated policies.

This position is made more sure in a report by Thomas Garrett in 2005 (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) where he noted that the US, an entrepreneurial society with about 70% of the population as entrepreneurs supersedes the rate in Western Europe (46%) and Canada (58%) as well as several other big nations such as Japan. The country has maintained this position for decades by insisting on policies that will foster entrepreneurship development at local, state and federal levels. Passive policies including laws and regulations were promulgated to lower the cost of start-up and create atmosphere to encourage entrepreneurship, while active laws provided targeted tax breaks and subsidies. It is passive policies that create entrepreneurial-friendly environments that allow any individual or business regardless of size, location or mission to expand and thrive, this is economic freedom.

Small Governments are sine qua non to Economic freedom. The US Government has proven this to be so as seen in a study conducted a decade after Thomas Garrett report by Dmitriy Krichevskiy and Thomas Snyder for the journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy. Measuring the effect of government policies on entrepreneurial activity within 50 US States, the authors find that a smaller government and free labour market is significantly associated with a net increase in business establishments. USA has firmly established itself as a world leader supporting entrepreneurship development for early-stage entrepreneurs and beyond. It is followed closely by Canada and Australia (Akinyemi F.O and Adejumo O.O 2018). The examples of these nations are critical to establishing that entrepreneurial policies must be deliberate and must target different entrepreneurs at different stages and phases on the entrepreneurship journey. Africa in Perspective the African Development Bank recognizes the critical role of entrepreneurship to the transformation of Africa’s economic prospects. In its paper delivered at the launch of The Alliance for Entrepreneurship in Africa in 2021, it stated that Entrepreneurship should be at the heart of all economic transformation initiative. Before this time, in December 2017, over 120 delegates from 20 countries in Africa were present at a forum organized by UNCTAD, the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and Convention Bureau (RCB) and the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) to forge a common agenda for the enhancement of entrepreneurship to sustainable development in Africa. The forum highlighted the critical role of policy makers in formulating policies that will create enabling environment for an entrepreneurial ecosystem. It noted the need for focused interventions for implementing entrepreneurial policies, and emphasized the set up of special purpose vehicles for embedding entrepreneurship at the center of national development initiatives.

 

The Republic of Ghana, Ethiopia, Rwanda, The Gambia, and Tanzania all had positive testimonials from the implementation of the UNCTAD entrepreneurship policy framework. A significant aspect is the development of national entrepreneurship strategies and action plans. Ghana is already improving business environment in its 200 districts, with programmes enhancing technology. Rwanda has also set aside a business development fund, business advisory services and community processing centers. A delegate from ECOWAS encouraged the elaboration of regional entrepreneurship policies as this can serve as a trigger for national reforms.

This is significant as it resonates with the positions held by the OECD and UNCTAD. In Nigeria The Nigerian Government has over the years set up institutions and programmes to support MSMEs. The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and its skills acquisition programme, National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), Poverty Alleviation Programme (PAP), the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE- P), Youth Enterprise With Innovation In Nigeria (YOUWIN), Small and Medium Industries Equity Investment Scheme (SMIEIS), National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS) (Idam, 2004). Several associations such as Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) also exist for this support as well. Litters of literature reviewing entrepreneurship development in Nigeria have been written by authors both in country and in the Diaspora. Most literature however, highlight the challenges faced by Nigerian SMEs at the start-up and existence stage, with very little focus on the ideation phase of entrepreneurship, this though being the most critical for embedding the entrepreneurship spirit and mindset, as well as developing an entrepreneurial society.

While the Government is doing so much already especially with the introduction of entrepreneurship education in tertiary institutions and the recent partnership with the Government of Japan which saw to the development of an entrepreneurship curriculum for Nigerian senior secondary schools (yet to be fully implemented), there is still more room for doing better. The Government is yet to situate entrepreneurship at the heart of its economic transformation and diversification agenda. There is no single policy existing that targets entrepreneurship at its very core, setting a direction for the nation. There is a need for a roadmap, a strategic plan with a master path for building an entrepreneurial Nigeria. There should be continued sensitization, advocacy and engagement between stakeholder and development partners such as the ECOWAS, AU,

United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), UN Women, IOM in partnership with the private sector and Government agencies such as the National Orientation Agency, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, and Federal Ministry of Education. The Academia should be at the hem driving the initiative for sustainability and to ensure that best practices are understudied and adapted for the Nigerian populace. Nigeria and her sister country Ghana can then set the pace for the rest of the sub-region.