Poor capacity keeps youth in search of jobs

Inadequate capacity and poor entrepreneurial education have turned young Nigerians into perpetual seekers of often non-existent jobs rather than entrepreneurs creating employment in the economy.

Experts blame this on the type of education and training received by Nigerian students from higher institutions which neglect  entrepreneurship skills, focusing rather on preparing graduates to fill white-collar jobs.

Nigeria has 37 million SMEs, contributing 48 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP), while employing 60 million citizens, according to a survey conducted by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) in collaboration with National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

This contrasts with what obtains in most emerging markets such as China, Malaysia and India, where SMEs employ over 60 percent of the population and contribute 65 percent to the GDP on the average.

Experts say there is the need for ministries of industry, trade and investment, SMEDAN and the National Orientation Agency to mount  serious campaigns targeted at encouraging young Nigerians to venture into entrepreneurship and then follow up with training, incentives and pointing the way to sources of funding.

They add that entrepreneurship should be a distinct course of study, just like economics, business administration and others in all higher institutions, rather than a one-off general course done only in the first year.    

Some analysts say most of the education in the higher institutions is not industry-targeted, thereby resulting in skills mismatches, which inevitably sees young graduates languishing for years in the labour market.

Others add that young Nigerians are not given entrepreneurial education early enough, as is done in other emerging economies, which precludes them from understanding opportunities in the economy, learning easier ways of sourcing seed funds and imbibing the principle of saving, which would enable them start small and grow big.

“The poor standards of education in Nigeria have the consequence of producing graduates ill-equipped to be entrepreneurs or who hardly qualify as employable in micro, small and medium enterprises,” said Agusto&Co, in a research commissioned by the FATE Foundation.

“Some small business owners cannot read and understand business registration procedures, bank account opening procedures or loan requirements,” Agusto& Co said.

The research firm added that steps must be urgently taken to make entrepreneurial, managerial and financial training opportunities for MSMEs more pervasive.

Experts are worried that the absence of full-fledged entrepreneurial institutions means that most young Nigerians who dare to venture into their own businesses lack basic requisite skills such as book-keeping and business planning which can help attract funding for them.

“ We often emphasise proper book-keeping to SMEs. Poor book-keeping is often why banks do not like SMEs,” said Friday Okpara, director, strategic partnership, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) at a forum in Lagos.

Okpara said Nigerian youths think there are no jobs when opportunities abound everywhere in the country, regretting that many young people evade skills and entrepreneurship schemes which would enable them become entrepreneurs, even when such are sponsored by government.

BusinessDay gathered that in China today, ‘let’s start our own business’ has become a slogan, as young Chinese now prefer to own their own businesses, rather than continue to be employees. Internet business tops the array of businesses young Chinese love to venturing into, according to CCTV.com. According to industry players, this should be replicated in Nigeria.

“Entrepreneurship and innovation are the only solutions out there for Nigeria,” Summy Francis, president, Africa’s Young Entrepreneurs (AYEEN) said in an interview with BusinessDay.

Many Nigerians however, say that there has been poor response from the country’s financial institutions in the area of funding small businesses. This is true, as only a meagre 3.5 percent of bank finance flows to agriculture and 0.2 percent to SMEs, and virtually nothing to exports, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Rasheed Olaoluwa, chief executive officer, Bank of Industry, which lends to MSMEs, particularly those in the non-oil and real sector, advised MSME owners to have good business plans and understand the market for their products.

Olaoluwa also urged young Nigerians to tap into funding opportunities of the bank such as Cottage Agro Processing Fund, Fashion Fund, Creative Industry Fund, Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund, Export Fund (managed for the African Development Bank), among others.

“You don’t need to know anybody to get a loan from BoI now,” Olaoluwa said.

Findings have also shown that many companies today have had vacancies for more than two years without finding suitable Nigerians to occupy them. Many of them even import labour from other West African countries. Experts believe this is a reflection of the Nigerian level of education, but a few others see it as an opportunity.

“Do you often wonder that when people need good plumbers or bricklayers, they go and get them from outside this country? Don’t Nigerians see this as an opportunity  to have quality bricklayers and plumbers?” Henrietta Onwuegbuzie, academic director, Owner-Manager Programme, Lagos Business School, asked, while moderating a FATE foundation forum in Lagos.

ODINAKA ANUDU