“The only way to disrupt the system and make your life better is to innovate. There is no cap on innovation. I am here today because I decided to innovate and take a risk on my political life. Just dare. Just innovate now”
I was one of those that got an invitation to be part of the audience to listen to the young president of France, Emmanuel Macron hold a conversation with about 2000 young entrepreneurs drawn from across the African continent, most of whom have been beneficiaries of the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP). The event was hosted by the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), which drives TEEP through which Elumelu has set aside US$100 million to create 10,000 young African entrepreneurs over the next 10 years.
For me, the highlight of the whole event was the signing of a one-billion-euro agreement between the TEF and Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the development arm of the French government. This will see the creation of “a risk-sharing guarantee framework granted by AFD to commercial banks in Africa for their loans to young entrepreneurs.” The main idea is to improve access to capital for young entrepreneurs, especially those under the mentorship programme of TEF. It is understood that the AFD will be providing guarantees of up to 70 percent for loans under this programme.
From his answers to some of the questions he was asked at the event, it is clear why France is investing in African entrepreneurs. And this has mainly to do with the wave of immigration hitting European shores and the need to tackle it from its root source.
“We need to have more Africans succeeding in Africa. We have Africans thinking that they cannot succeed in Africa. That must change” Macron explained. The wave of immigrants hitting the shores of Europe, Macron explained, is creating anxiety in the middle class in Europe, who fear that their jobs and lifestyles are being threatened. This is what has created resistance, which is fuelling populism in Europe.
He rightly noted that immigration is being fuelled in Africa because most Africans have lost hope that it is possible to succeed in Africa. This is why even the middle class are migrating. He believes that by restoring hope in the continent, by making Africans see that they can succeed here, could reverse the wave of migration. It would also change the perceptions of those who have already migrated and even Europeans about the continent.
Basically, Macron is preaching Afrocapitalism, the concept that led Elumelu to create TEEP, which is the idea that you can reduce poverty on the continent by creating entrepreneurs who in turn create jobs and wealth for everyone. It is therefore not surprising that Macron decided to sign the MOU with TEF, which has already funded 3,000 entrepreneurs through the programme, many of whom have gone on to create very strong businesses. There is no doubt that TEEP is a great programme and as usual, as it is with many local initiatives, it is taking a foreign validation to help us realize the potential of the programme. Macron expressed the view that the private sector has the biggest potential for reducing poverty in the country, through their capacity to create jobs.
“I am a strong believer in the private sector, because I think that is the best way to make an impact. A strong private sector is the best way to have an inclusive growth” he said.
Macron says that African youths are not lazy. He says what youths on the continent need, is access to capital. This, he said, is the reason the French government is signing the MOU with TEF to provide one-billion-euro funding for the continent’s young entrepreneurs.
But he also charged the continent’s young entrepreneurs to be “Obsessed with innovation.”
“The only way to disrupt the system and make your life better is to innovate. There is no cap on innovation. I am here today because I decided to innovate and take a risk on my political life. Just dare. Just innovate now” he said.
Macron also disclosed that it is in a bid to push innovation that France is introducing another project, the digital initiative on the continent. This is because the future is about innovation and the continent’s young population has an edge in creating that future and in the process build a new image of Africa.
He also had some strong views on the potential impact that a fast growing population has on the rising incidence of poverty in the country. There is no way a country that has birth rates of 5 to 7 per woman, expect to see poverty decline ‘even if it is growing at five percent”, Macron said. This view seems to answer the federal government’s recent criticism of the World Poverty Clock prediction of rising poverty in the country.
There is no way that a country with an economy that is expanding at less than two percent per annum, but has a population growing at an average rate of 3.2 percent, expect that poverty would be on the decline. Definitely, we do not need the World Poverty Clock to let us know that this mismatch between economy and population growth rate will fuel ‘extreme poverty.’
Even when the country’s economy was growing at five percent, poverty was rising. Therefore, it is obvious that now that the economy is growing at less than two percent, even after contracting in 2016, that poverty will rise even faster. We do not need a Macron or Brookings article to let this fact sink in.
But it was not all about the economy and immigration that Macron discussed at the very engaging discussion with African entrepreneurs. He also offered some useful advice to the young entrepreneurs in the audience. He urged young entrepreneurs to strive to make a difference globally.
“Take your risk. There is no one model to succeed anywhere. Just be sincere and take your own risk.” This advice, he said, applies in both business and politics. Young people should not expect that the older politicians will encourage them to seek political positions. In fact, he said, he was discouraged and told to wait for his turn. But he decided not to listen to them.
“If you want to be a leader, if you want to create, then you have to take your risk” he advised.
“Never stop at the first failure. Because when you try, you can fail. But always learn from your own failure. I succeeded because I learnt from my failure and because so many people told me it was impossible.”
But he also urged young entrepreneurs to ensure that they have a vision that is sustainable for everyone. “Now people are connected. You must have an inclusive vision that carries everyone around you” he said.
However, perhaps, the biggest takeaway for me was his statement that your nationality cannot determine your success.
“I do believe that you if you think yourself that being a Nigerian makes you unable to succeed, then you cannot succeed. It is true that the Nigerian environment can constrain you, but if you dare and you are determined, you will succeed. Your nationality is not a determinant of your ability to succeed.”
This statement was apt because on stage with him was Tony Elumelu, and in the audience, was Jim Ovia, and Atedo Peterside, men who, at a very young age, broke new grounds in banking and succeeded in building financial empires that have now gone global. They did it without stepping a foot out of Nigeria, other than going for holidays. They recognised the opportunity of their time and took it. They succeeded despite their nationality and perhaps even because of it.
