All over the world, people are worried about not having enough jobs, but the situation has been much worse in Africa. Africa’s industries and economies are in worse shape than they were a few decades ago because more than 140 million young people (15–35 years old) are out of work.
With COVID-19, the already bad situation in Africa got even worse. Layoffs and shorter work weeks were a wake-up call for everyone on the continent.
Researchers have found that being exposed to innovation has a big impact not only on the kinds of innovation kids are interested in, but also on how likely they are to become innovators themselves. To reach SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), we need to make sure that education gives everyone, no matter where they live or who their parents are, better chances and outcomes.
Nelson Mandela once said, “The way a society treats its children shows more about its soul than anything else.” How well a country meets the needs of its children will be the best way to tell how close it is to reaching the Sustainable Development Goals. There is no better way than to give everyone a good education. Education is the best way to level the playing field, and for many kids, it’s the only way to break out of a life of poverty.
Interdependent architecture is one of the most important things to think about for market-creating innovations that work. Such interdependent rules, like business incubation centres, protect innovators from risks as they start to put their ideas into action.
Efosa Ojomo and Lincoln Wilcox of The Christensen Institute explain that a business incubation centre is a one-of-a-kind, very flexible place that combines business development processes, infrastructure, and people to help small businesses grow and thrive in their early stages. Having these kinds of centres could help many, if not all, of Africa’s economies.
Ojomo and Wilcox say that businesses that focus on people who don’t buy much aren’t very popular because they often have to start with low profits, need a lot of money, and go after unclear markets. For the African market to do better in this area, it needs help from both governments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). This kind of help is important because innovators often face financial or structural problems that could stop them from trying. Also, it costs less for the government to help innovative institutions or people than to create jobs. Once these businesses are up and running, they can hire and help a lot of unemployed people.
Innovations that make new markets tend to focus on parts of the market that have been ignored in the past. This means that they have a big impact on job creation. This is why business and education in Africa should teach people how to make jobs and opportunities instead of how to find them. This would help build a culture that supports innovations that make new markets as early as high school. As a result, fewer people would need jobs, and those who do would be easily able to find work in fields that need their specific skills.
Lastly, African states should support technology that helps them meet their own needs. For example, because of the pandemic, millions of people had to work from home for a short time. Governments and internet service providers can work together to make internet service free or more affordable in cities and other residential areas. The internet is essential for research and development to work well, and innovators who create new markets do a lot of research on the internet to figure out how to grow their businesses. Africa, like the rest of the world, needs the same kinds of technologies.
Innovations that create new markets make products that were once too expensive or out of reach for a large portion of the population affordable and easy to get. Innovators who focus their efforts on areas of non-consumption have the potential to generate significant wealth and, as a result, to revolutionise society. Support from the government and programmes like incubation centres can help both the government and the unemployed as a whole.
