Africa: Where everyone wants to be an entrepreneur Culled from BBC News
Alima Atta tells a story about recruiting staff when she was setting up her business in Nigeria’s fledging communications and marketing sector.
She employed a young man - university-educated, articulate, presentable - seemingly an ideal choice. Alima asked him to draft a press release, and then left for a business meeting. On her return to the office, the man was sitting in front of a laptop, eyes fixed to a blank screen. “What’s wrong?” she asked. He admitted to never having used a computer. Alima hadn’t thought of checking that her new well-spoken, middle-class employee had basic computer skills.
She recalled the anecdote to illustrate some of the day-to-day frustrations that would-be entrepreneurs in emerging nations can face. Things that business people in western economies might take for granted, must be checked, and double-checked.
But talk to start-up owners in Nigeria, or Kenya, or South Africa, and you get a sense of the huge opportunities available. Many economies in sub-Saharan Africa are racing ahead, and an emerging middle class is developing a thirst for products and services that were previously out of reach.
Alima set up Sesema Public Relations in 2002. As with many entrepreneurs around the world, the motivation to go-it-alone was dissatisfaction with an existing job.
“Yes, it’s been tough,” she said. Any regrets? “Certainly not.”
Click http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16723791 to read the full article.
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