Young African entrepreneurs have cited access to finance as the biggest barrier to growing their businesses, with 48% of participants in the Anzisha Youth Entrepreneurship Survey having highlighted this as a concern.
The survey was based on an emailed questionnaire answered by a selection of young entrepreneurs aged between 15 and 25. It focused on five areas of operating a business, namely growth, sales and marketing, human resources, funding and support.
Only 27% of young entrepreneurs received any form of outside investment, with family members and grants being the major sources of funding accessible. Despite the challenges they face, 84% of entrepreneurs reported employing others, underscoring the employment creation potential of youth businesses.
However, 41% described the level of support available to enable and scale young entrepreneurs in their countries as poor or very poor. This suggested that significant work still had to be done to make it easier for young business people to succeed.