Launches the Invest in Young Businesses initiative in Africa
The European Union (EU) recently hosted the high-level launch of the Team Europe Initiative’s Investing in Young Businesses in Africa (TEI IYBA) initiative in Nigeria. The launch, which took place in Lagos, featured a conversation on supporting young entrepreneurs: Nigeria and the Europe team working for the future, by a four-person panel moderated by an entrepreneur from Women Entrepreneurs for Africa (WE4A). , Mrs. Lalita Purbhoo-Junggee.
The occasion, which drew men and women from all walks of life, also saw two plenary sessions: the official launch of the initiative and an afternoon session where successful businesswomen from across sub-Saharan Africa presented their business cases to future investors
This session, held under the WE4A programme, a component of TEI IYBA, sought to facilitate the conditions in which businesses and early-stage entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa could thrive, especially women and youth.
With the objective of extending financial and technical support in the early stages of development of these businesses, the program hopes to strengthen the ecosystem of organizations that support them, incubators and accelerators.
According to the organizers, the WE4A program strengthens the business skills of African women entrepreneurs; improve their access to formal financial services and markets, and help reduce gender gaps that exist in labor markets.
An example of such a program is a new €15 million agenda to improve the digital innovation ecosystem in Nigeria. While financed by the EU and Germany, the project will be implemented by GIZ, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH.
This project also supports policy makers and institutions such as the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in promoting digital transformation and strengthening business support organizations by enabling more women and youth to develop their digital and business skills
Speaking at the event, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund Executive Secretary Teju Abisoye acknowledged that a major challenge facing youth-led businesses in Lagos is the scarcity of information, saying that documenting and managing Documents are often overlooked by a number of companies, including startups in the technology space.
She said that before finding a company that is good with its documentation, that company would have received the necessary training at one point or another, and insisted that documentation is critical, especially when a business owner wants to grow their business.
She said: “You need to document every little thing, especially when you want to grow your business. To also talk to investors, you need to have the proper documentation. What we also lack is structure. Most of the time, companies start with the need to solve a problem, but you don’t really think about the structure of what it will be like.
“When you look at micro, small and medium-sized businesses in Nigeria, for example, most of them started from bedrooms and living rooms. Most of the time, they start as family businesses before growing. And due to the lack of structure, and not being able to distinguish between child and employee, a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation is created about how businesses should be run.
“Interestingly for tech, there aren’t a lot of women going into tech businesses. I guess they’re not prepared to take that risk. There is that fear. And that brings me to some of the challenges that we also face in terms of acceleration, which is really ambitious. Most women are not ambitious enough. And the cultural elements exist in Nigeria.
“So when you start a business to solve a problem and it’s always a small problem, you never really think big. And when they get to organizations like others and ours that are incubators or accelerators, you find there’s no way a business like that can grow. But when they start something like the beauty business and go into technology, they can actually grow their business; you can actually climb. So there’s always a cultural element that affects things with ambition and that’s what I mean by cultural elements.
“Once again, most women entrepreneurs are risk averse; they want to play it safe and it’s a challenge. So as much as there is funding, as much as there is this challenge of accessing funding, you find that there aren’t enough women entrepreneurs who really say, ‘I want to take this business to a much larger scale. ‘ And then when you find those women who think otherwise, they actually go further. These are women who have said, ‘this is what I’m doing and this is how I can scale that business.’ I am happy that we have initiatives like this where we can replicate this for more women entrepreneurs.”
In his opening remarks, the Minister for Youth Development and Sport, Sunday Dare, said that the EU-Nigeria Partnership has been productive and energetic, and thanked the EU, on behalf of the Nigerian government, for its contributions and support at other critical times in the country. development areas.
He said: “The issue of youth is everyone’s business, I insist. This launch could not have come at a better time, as the youth sector continues to amplify the voices of the more than 33 million young entrepreneurs in Nigeria who no longer need empowerment but need investment.”
According to him, the Fate Institute report, ‘State of Entrepreneurship in Nigeria 2021’, 43 and 67 percent of the entrepreneurs in the country are women and youth whose ages are between 18 and 35 respectively.
He said the report looked at three subject areas: the business index in Nigeria, women- and youth-led businesses, and the impact of technology on business.
The report, he said, revealed that the state of business development in Nigeria continues to strengthen, but access to finance, inadequate infrastructure and insecurity are major obstacles to desired business growth.
“Most of the companies in Nigeria are less than 10 years old and 49 percent of them are also run by young people. Following the impact of COVID-19 on the Nigerian business community, we as a government have understood that by working with the private and civil sectors, we must establish a well-functioning business ecosystem that supports business innovation and growth.
“In Nigeria, SMEs contribute 48% of the national GDP, account for 96% of businesses and 84% of employment. It is no longer business as usual. When asked, 22 percent of 15-22 year olds want to be a trader or business owner by the time they reach the age of 30.”
European Commission Head of Unit Ms Cecile Billaux, speaking on behalf of EU Ambassador to Nigeria Samuela Isopi, said the EU would like to support Africa, not just Nigeria.
“I am very happy to be a part of this and try to develop this European initiative to invest in young companies in Africa. It is not only the EU, but also the EU and the EU member states together. We are 11, we are part of this initiative and we want all of us to work better and together to broaden our support for young companies.
“Nigeria is the second country where we launched this initiative. We launched it in Senegal earlier this year in February, and now it’s Nigeria. Of course, Nigeria in terms of numbers and in terms of the dynamism of the young population, which is essential in Africa.
“If we look at the United Nations (UN) estimates, we see that by 2050, the population of Nigeria will exceed that of the United States. I have learned that the median age of the Nigerian population is 17 years old. So, it’s very impressive. And it’s going to be really something that we would also like to support, and bring growth and jobs to these young people.
“And to do that, Nigeria is working to create a more attractive investment climate. It is very important that the private sector prosper and invest, as well as develop business. And here we have young people who have an opportunity. We have to participate in the development of the country.
“I am sure that the government is already making great efforts to do that. And we know that the challenges are still numerous and that is why this joint initiative is taking shape. We see today that an entrepreneur has a good idea and a good business model, but he still has difficulties with finances.
“This is a very important point because if you want to develop your business and make it grow, of course, you need to have the finances, but not just the finances, you need the skills, the experience, the ability to develop your business model. with digital media and innovation. It is very important to make sure that your very small company can eventually become a more successful one and take some scale on the African continent.”
Also speaking, the Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Lagos, Mr. Gerald Wolf, said: “He has been impressed with the spirit of free enterprise and business acumen of the people in this very dynamic city. I am very happy that this is finally coming to Nigeria and it makes great sense to invest in entrepreneurs because they are the ones who are really driving the economic transition, development and economic progress.
“They are the ones finding solutions to the challenges of daily life and creating the jobs. I believe that around 70% of those jobs are created by micro, small and medium-sized companies. Actually, these are really the future that we want to support. And they don’t just increase GDP; they also contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“So, they not only seek economic success, but also the development of their country. They are very important for that. And it also makes sense to focus on young entrepreneurs because they are more likely to embrace the innovation.
“It also makes sense to focus on women because they are more likely to employ other women and thus improve women’s economic integration.”
