Innovative Entrepreneurship; the New Paradigm in Youth Employment-EZC

The status quo of youth employment in Africa posses a big threat to the effective development of the youth in economic productivity. It has been the same cycle of seeking employment from one of these three; Multinational companies; Government and State Agencies; and Local Small and Mid-sized Enterprises (SMEs).

Unfortunately, these aforementioned avenues for employment do not suffice, given the increasingly high demand of

youth employment in Africa. The over-reliance on these traditional forms of engaging the teaming youth economically, is no longer sustainable. Evidently, the limited opportunities afforded by multinationals and government and state agencies make local SMEs the real viable option to absorb the youth in terms of employment. Notwithstanding, local SMEs often lack the capacity to satisfy this high demand, thus, leading to high employment and underemployment.

Apparently, three major risks have been identified as likely to stifle the development of entrepreneurship in Africa; Capital Slave; Weak Competitiveness; Difficult Access to Market. The current approach to tackling youth employment; which focuses on multinationals, government and state and local SMEs- do not encourage the youth to consider entrepreneurship as real viable option. What's even more worrying is how to overcome the challenges associated with attempting an entrepreneurial venture.

Many people have been pre-conditioned to believe that one requires huge sums of money in order to start a business. This phenomenon has made a lot of the youth, with great potential, capital slaves.They run the risk of losing real value of money, waiting for long periods for funds and increased in cost, or the unavailability, of inputs as a result of over-dependency on start-up capital.

High competition in the market from mostly foreign brands makes it seemingly difficult for local businesses and entrepreneurs to thrive. The prevailing conditions of doing business in Africa mostly erodes the competitiveness of local businesses. Corruption, high tax rates, lack of infrastructure and the likes, are among the key factors likely to derail entrepreneurs and their ability to be innovative.

Having access to the right market is also a major problem for entrepreneurs and local businesses. And even how to navigate the market to the advantage of these entrepreneurs once they have access is mostly a difficult task as well. The lack of requisite skills diminishes the competitive fortunes of most of these local players. Many great ideas and businesses have been crippled and eventually sent packing because of their inability to make the right moves in the market space.

Amidst the uncertainties associated with the old paradigm of youth employment in Africa, the Entrepreneur with Zero Capital (EZC) concept proposed by the African Foundation For Entrepreneurs and Economic Development (AFFEED), offers a viable solution to curbing the high employment situation in Africa. The primary focus of the EZC is to teach the youth on how to start their own businesses without waiting for seed money. Participants of the training program are exposed to various techniques that are necessary for their entrepreneurial growth. They are trained to analyse entrepreneurship from a perspective that differs from the norm (EZC); which leads them to develop a Z-CBP (Zero Capital Business Plan). AFFEED upon successfully completing the training program assist participants with mentors to guide and direct the implementation process. As the umbrella body coordinating the activities of these entrepreneurs, AFFEED affords them the opportunity to collaborate with other similar start-ups across the continent.

The EZC concept provides a tailor-made solution that tackles directly the three major risks associated with entrepreneurship in Africa. Training and equipping the youth to be able to not only develop a Z-CBP but also implement the plan. It provides the surest way to change the mentality of the young African who for while now has been a victim of capital slavery. Again, the risk of low competitiveness can be cured through merger and collaboration between start-ups to create synergy. Furthermore, the strong brand created as a result of African youths coming together to pursue a common goal diminishes completely the barrier to market. It ostensibly enhance their chances of breaking into other market areas which otherwise may not have been possible .

Curbing the high unemployment menace in Africa requires a complete over-haul of the current paradigm to a new one which focuses primarily on youth empowerment and growth. The youth population in Africa is projected to grow significantly in the coming years, thus, it is imperative for the continent to brace itself for the new wave and take full advantage of the opportunities that this population growth comes with. These opportunities can be exploited only if the continent position itself strategically by redefining the employment structure; shifting to the new paradigm in youth employment.