Youth Entrepreneurship in Africa and Development Growth “Options and Challenges”

Youth entrepreneurship is crucial to the sustainable economic growth of the African Continent. It creates job opportunities for millions of Africans, it helps the government to allocate funds for other development areas that might have been affected due to the joblessness of the young people. It is interesting to know that Africa is the second most youthful populated continent after Asia; youths between 15-24 years of age constitute 19% of its demographic composition, while there is a projection that this figure may double by 2030 as youths’ percentage may rise and reach 42%. However, this indicates a promising, upright projection and bright future for the continent in the sense that young people are the main engine of sustainable development (Demographic Dividend). Nevertheless, massive unemployment and underemployment rates are the biggest challenges and obstacles that still stand ahead of Africa’s growth (Demographic Distress). Hence, to handle this social economic problem and predicament, entrepreneurship that has been massively engaged by many talented young Africans ought to be exhorted by the governments and other development stakeholders. It is, therefore, recommended to governments and stakeholders smartly invest in training young people about entrepreneurship, mainly in agriculture, IT, and ICT in addition to providing all necessary support and reducing systematic barriers that come their way in many African economies such as bureaucratic barrier, high-cost of doing business, lack of access to finances and the existence of deplorable infrastructures both tangible and intangible, etc. This paper discusses young entrepreneurs’ role in driving the development agenda and realization of the United Nations-initiated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa. The Research is qualitative in nature to explore some of the challenges and prospects of youth entrepreneurship on the African Continent. The study concludes that entrepreneurship in general and youth entrepreneurship, in particular, are the main and must be the main engine of Africa’s economies, turning its demographic distress into dividends, and solving other associated sociopolitical and security challenges.