Student Entrepreneurship, Micro Enterprises and Employment Opportunities Part 1.

The statistics of Unemployment and underemployment across Africa are alarming. In April 2023, KPMG stated that the unemployment rate in Nigeria has increased to 37.7 percent and would likely rise to 40.6% due to the saturation of the job market with new graduates. These figures could be higher than this; judging from the number of applications you would get on any job ads, my friends in HR would give you a better gist.

So, is Unemployment a question of opportunities?

The answer is yes. You will get a clearer picture when you compare Africa with other developed nations with labor shortages. I would speak about something different than the ultimate search for people with the right skill to fill entry-level roles. That would be a discussion for another day. I would not also cover the capacity of small and medium enterprises to pay a worthy remuneration to attract the proper skill set for advertised roles. That would also be the subject of another conversation.

However, let's focus on the equation that has increased Unemployment over the years.

Increase in population + increase in the year the number of graduates + continuous decline in production-based and other industries = Unemployment.        

You would remember the days of the agricultural boards, cocoa houses, groundnut pyramids, palm oil revolution, and rubber exploits. At the same time, those were the good old days. It was also a time when the lack of foresight created the bone of Unemployment that would later drag at our nation's throats.

Could you permit me to explain? You are already wondering how such a period of boom could also be the start of our doom. Our problem was not the discovery of oil. Our problem has always been value creation, building industries around our natural resources, and creating incentives for technical development. Now you can understand how we carried the same approach to the newly discovered natural resource - oil.

With that in mind, you can trace the boom we experienced then primarily to revenue derived from our exports. Without plowing back that revenue to create the industries that would make us capitalize on the industrial revolution, we were technically creating a comprehensive pathway for Unemployment and a society without abundant opportunities.

How is student entrepreneurship the solution?

I am biased because most people around me were student entrepreneurs. Most of them took advantage of various business opportunities while in school. But I understand that entrepreneurship has to be a mindset one cultivates that defines one's general outlook on problems despite the overwhelming challenges.

My arguments on student entrepreneurship

I would credit my arguments to Richard Okiasi and tell you a short story.

O started three different businesses in school that failed. Even though O was not happy about O's failure, the failures served as a springboard for O to build his four businesses which became a perfect timing for his gifts and a growing market segment. At about the same time O started the 4th business, the Dangote refinery project was set in motion. Several years later, the refinery is anticipated to employ around 100,000 people through direct and indirect employment. O currently employs 5-8 people.

If you are laughing at this point, I can understand why. O's efforts differ from what the refinery would do when it comes onboard. However, you have to see the broader picture.

If we have a system that produces 1M O's or more from every graduating set, we can be confident of employing 5-8 million people within that cycle.        

Yes, this sounds like a nice theory. One of our responsibilities is to prove theories and continue to adapt toward the best-optimized results. I have spent the last three years trying to understand the premises and the factors that would make student entrepreneurship a significant tool to reduce our unemployment figures.

Let's follow up on this article until all poke this theory a bit, and I present more thoughts.