The recent survey conducted by Djembe Communications, the young pan-Africa communication consultancy in conjunction with Forbes Insights on entrepreneurship and job creation in Nigeria has revealed that 86per cent of 1,000 Nigerians surveyed would prefer to run their own business rather than work for a company.
The research document also showed that 40 per cent agree that entrepreneurs and Small and Medium Enterprises will be the top drivers of job creation by 2020.
It would be recalled that entrepreneurs are seen as major economic advancers in terms creating jobs and introducing a culture of innovation in other part of the world.
The findings of a study, 4,000 Africans aged 16 to 40 across Angola, Ghana, Mozambique and Nigeria participated in this all-important study. The research findings revealed that Nigerians are the most pro-enterprise compared to the other countries with 86per cent preferring to run their own business rather than work for a company.
There is also a widespread belief that entrepreneurs play a key role in advancing the economy in terms of job creation -59per cent and introducing innovative products and services into the market mix-38per cent..
The survey titled “Job Creation in sub-Saharan Africa: Entrepreneurs. Governments, Innovation.” Was unveiled in Lagos where professionals which include Bola Adesola, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Bank, Henry Erimodafe, Executive Director, Head UBS (Nigeria) Representative office Limited, Tani Fafunwa Chief Executive Officer, Resourcery Plc and Adenike Ogunlesi, Founder & CEO, Ruff ‘n’ Tumble discussed the report
The comprehensive report illustrates that young Nigerians have a highly positive outlook on the impact of entrepreneurship on their country’s future economic growth and job creation efforts. 40per cent of those interviewed in Nigeria believe that entrepreneurs and SMEs will be the top driver of job creation in the next five years, ahead of technology- 39per cent and government policies and programmes-37per cent.
Djembe Communications Country Manager in Nigeria, Onome Okwah, commented: “Nigerians today appreciate entrepreneurs as drivers of the new economy, which is a strong indicator that we are ready to move on from our dependence on the oil sector. This is the time for Nigeria’s public and private sector to establish solid institutional frameworks that will boost SMES and promote entrepreneurship.”
The top three sectors that Nigerians expect will create the most entrepreneurs over the next five years are agriculture and agribusiness 58per cent, information and communications technology 39per cent, and manufacturing 38per cent. These findings strongly reflect the country’s current landscape in which the agricultural sector is in fact a major employer and a major driver of economic growth, and further points towards the increasing scope for adding to the value chain and creating jobs through integration with other industry sectors.
