Africa needs more Social Entrepreneurs

·         Africa accounts for only 3% of global trade.

·         Intra-Africa trade, that is, trade between countries in Africa is at a marginal 10%

·         Unemployment rates in Africa average 40% in most countries, most of these are youth.

·         Most workers or enterprises are found within the informal economy (unregulated, unregistered enterprises).

·         The public sector is only able to absorb 20% of the annual labour force.

The facts above paint a minuscule picture about Africa on a global scale in relation to trade, employment and enterprise.  Indeed much of the news that reaches the masses is the negative aspects of how resources have been plundered or led to civil wars in some nation states. While one cannot ignore the fact that this is happening, the purpose of this article is not to capitalize on negative aspects and what has gone wrong but the purpose is to highlight the potential of Africa and the role of entrepreneurs particularly social entrepreneurs within Africa.

Until a few years ago the common way of doing business was by running business with the sole purpose of making profits while meeting social needs of people was  left in the hands of charities, NGOs or government through giving handouts or training and empowerment programmes. In the UK as with many other countries in Europe and Asia social entrepreneurship has gained more cognizance thanks to the likes of Mohammed Yunus of Grameen bank who received the 2006 Nobel peace Prize for his efforts to create social and economic development in Bangladesh through micro finance.

The beauty of social entrepreneurship is that in most cases social problems such as poverty, inequality, pollution, inadequate healthcare among many others can be tackled whilst making profits at the same time. A social minded business model puts people and the social need first by looking for ways of giving people dignity, uplifting them from charity dependency and hopelessness and at the same time makes profits of which some of the profits made are channelled back to the project. This creates a win win situation and a cycle whereby those involved earn income and contribute towards development by becoming change makers and uplifting others. One unique feature about the Grameen bank is that majority of its shareholders come from disadvantaged backgrounds and upon membership take micro loans and run their micro businesses into profitable businesses. Dividend retention by the CEO is therefore not the prime objective of this type of business model but rather giving ownership or a voice to the stakeholders goes hand in hand with the model.



A number of entrepreneurs from Africa have gained worldwide recognition for their flair for business, creativity and innovation and more so for their contribution to their societies and their abilities to bring a cultural shift in the way business is done in Africa. One such person is Bethlehem Alemu, founder of a Fair trade shoe company SoleRebels that has captured the global market by selling fairtrade shoes ‘made in Ethiopia’ and has creatively utilised local resources such as recycled tyres and leather from which the shoes are made of. Local skills such as weaving have been made use of in creating a shoe that is not only well finished but rapidly becoming a global footwear brand. Phenomenal too is the fact that SoleRebels has created jobs for hundreds of Ethiopians and pays its workers wages that are four times the amount of minimum wage in Ethiopia. It is therefore upon such an initiative that Bethlehem Alemu was presented with the prestigious award ‘Social Entrepreneur of the year’ by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs.

By increasingly embracing the concept of social enterprise, Africa’s problems will not be left merely in the hands of government or foreign institutions. Rather it is the people of Africa, the communities, entrepreneurs who are well placed to tackle social ills and thus create an even playing field for Africa’s products and services globally. A cultural shift is indeed necessary and very much achievable by working with what is available such as utilising local resources and local skills and believing that the best can come out of Africa. Such endeavours will not only create much needed jobs on a local level, but as entrepreneurs innovatively produce world class products and services, greater opportunities such as private-public sector partnerships, increased access to national and international markets among others may arise. 

Africa cannot progress with just handouts but Africa needs leading and innovative entrepreneurs who are willing to tackle social injustice through enterprise in order to create the Africa we would much rather see. There are many unique and positive features about Africa, namely, abundance of natural resources, commodities, land and human capital. To be recognised as equal players in the global arena, cutting corners and belittling local potential must be a thing of the past and as seen with the example of Mohammed Yunus and Bethlehem Alemu, the world certainly applauds socially minded creativity and innovation.