By: Ntombi Mandla
There are important insights for young South African entrepreneurs to glean from countries like Kenya, Rwanda, and Mauritius on how to harness human creativity, resilience, and technological innovation within their SME environments. According to Business Partners International chief investment officer Matthew Cumming, the distinctive trait of African entrepreneurship was its capability to tackle grassroots-level issues.
One such example was Kuda, a Nigerian digital bank known as the ‘bank of the free’, which has successfully expanded access to banking and financial services for ordinary Nigerians. “The African continent is widely regarded as the next frontier in terms of small business development. With small and medium enterprises (SMEs) currently accounting for up to 90% of businesses in sub-Saharan Africa, entrepreneurs play a vital role in social upliftment, economic empowerment and global competitiveness,” Cumming said in a statement.
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He used Uganda’s SafeBoda as an illustration of a start-up aiming to transform the public perception of motorcycle taxi drivers and improve their livelihoods. Beyond the economic advantages of fostering a vibrant small business sector, African SMEs held tremendous potential to make a profound impact and transform lives, families, and entire communities “All eyes should be on Africa right now for the small businesses of the future who will have the capabilities to set the continent up on the global stage, but also provide important solutions to pressing issues,” added Cumming.
Another was Kenya’s dynamic start-up ecosystem, coupled with a significant number of technology disruptors emerging from the region. Known as Silicon Savannah, some of the trailblazers in the Kenyan tech landscape include M-Pesa and M-Kopa. “What these and other start-ups have harnessed is the ubiquity of technology – the same technology that is created for Kenyans and used by them, can be used by people in other global territories. This affords these kinds of innovators with the ability to scale exponentially,” noted Cumming.
He also said that an enabling business environment such as the one in Rwanda was important to support entrepreneurs. The Rwandan government has made a concerted effort to reduce bureaucracy and create an enabling environment for business. Another country that had seen a rapid growth of its small business base was Mauritius. Although its travel and tourism sector has always been one of its major and most recognisable drawcards for aspiring businesspeople, Mauritius has also succeeded in diversifying its economy, said Cumming.
Both the government and private enterprises have focused their efforts on expanding the country’s production capabilities into diverse sectors such as textiles, apparel and pharmaceuticals. This strategic shift has enabled Mauritius to diversify its sources of revenue and effectively reduce economic risk. According to Cumming, South Africa has the capacity and should consider adopting similar actions, particularly because of its abundant natural resources. If it could improve conditions for new production facilities and small businesses, there was a possibility to surpass other prominent African regions and establish itself as a global producer.
