The prestigious Anzisha Prize, which rewards the best young African entrepreneurs, this month published the Anzisha Youth Entrepreneurship Survey 2016 (2016 Anzisha Youth Entrepreneurship Survey). This survey provides an overview of the realities faced by young entrepreneurs in Africa.

The Entrepreneurship Survey is based on a questionnaire sent by email to a selection of young entrepreneurs between the ages of 15 and 25, who are on the African continent. The survey covered five areas of business operation, namely growth, sales and marketing, human resources, financing and support.

It is hoped that stakeholders, such as policy makers, support organizations and entrepreneurs will benefit from this information. Respondents overwhelmingly said that access to finance was the main obstacle to growth and 48% said it was the main obstacle to expanding their businesses. Only 27% of young entrepreneurs have received some form of external investment, with family members (59%) and grants (52%) being the main sources of funding available. Despite the difficulties encountered, 84% of entrepreneurs said they had employed other people, thus highlighting the job creation potential of young entrepreneurs and their businesses. However, a large proportion of respondents (41%), described the level of support for young entrepreneurs in their country as “low” or even “very low”. This suggests that there is still a lot of work to facilitate the success of young entrepreneurs.

Applications for the Anzisha Prize (www.AnzishaPrize.org) are currently open to young entrepreneurs between the ages of 15 and 22. The winners will share $ 100,000 in aid and will be able to access the support and networks necessary to grow their businesses. The deadline for applications is April 15, 2016. The Anzisha Prize partners are the MasterCard Foundation and the African Leadership Academy.

Josh Adler, vice president of global programs at African Leadership Academy, said, “African Leadership Academy is pleased to invest in such research. We hope that this report and others that follow will guide the work of teachers, policy makers and other stakeholders in the youth development sector. ”

The majority of young people interviewed indicated that they pursued an entrepreneurial career mainly to have an impact on the world (57% of those questioned). They focus mainly on communities and use face-to-face meetings with their customers as the main sales channel (56%) and word of mouth as the main marketing tool (83%). In terms of human resources, 84% of companies said they had employees. Young entrepreneurs reward and incentivize their employees in a variety of ways, with training programs (51%) and bonuses (47%) being the most popular. Many of them also allow their employees to contribute to the success of the business through profit sharing (37%). Young entrepreneurs are able to influence others through job creation and skills development. However, they indicated that the level of support available to entrepreneurs in their country is insufficient.

Koffi Assouan, program manager at the MasterCard Foundation said: “Knowledge and information about young African entrepreneurs is largely lacking. This report provides crucial data that can support programs and strategies to support the entrepreneurial spirit of young people and to spark an indispensable conversation between professionals and stakeholders on the subject. ”

The full survey can be downloaded from the following address: http://www.anzishaprize.org/resources/. You can also request guidance at the national level from the Anzisha Prize team.

Source: http://www.africatopsuccess.com/2016/03/30/enquete-prix-anzisha-les-maux-des-jeunes-entrepreneurs-africains-detectes/

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CEO AfrikaTech

Comme beaucoup de personnes j’ai connu l’Afrique à travers des stéréotypes : l’Afrique est pauvre, il y a la guerre, famine… Je suis devenu entrepreneur pour briser ces clichés et participer à la construction du continent. J’ai lancé plusieurs entreprises dont Kareea (Formation et développement web), Tutorys (Plate-forme de e-learning), AfrikanFunding (Plate-forme de crowdfunding). Après un échec sur ma startup Tutorys, à cause d’une mauvaise exécution Business, un manque de réseau, pas de mentor, je suis parti 6 mois en immersion dans l’écosystème Tech au Sénégal. J’ai rencontré de nombreux entrepreneurs passionnés, talentueux et déterminés. A mon retour sur Paris je décide de raconter leur histoire en créant le média AfrikaTech. L'objectif est de soutenir les entrepreneurs qui se battent quotidiennement en Afrique en leur offrant la visibilité, les connaissances, le réseautage et les capitaux nécessaires pour réussir. L'Afrique de demain se construit aujourd'hui ensemble. Rejoignez-nous ! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boubacardiallo

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