In a region where millions of people remain excluded from basic amenities such as education, social and creative entrepreneurs are leading the way for positive transformation.

Social and creative enterprises offer a route to self-sufficiency by providing training and education, and harnessing skills – all elements that improve access to jobs.

Research by the British Council indicates that, not only have social and creative enterprises created a significant number of jobs across the region, but they also create them for people from underserved communities.

The creative economy is one of the most rapidly growing sectors in the global economy, offering new and high growth opportunities, especially for developing countries.

As developing nations generate and sell a wide variety of creative products (including films, art, music, fashion, cultural crafts, and computer games and apps), they contribute to the home nation’s gross domestic products, exports, and growth, ultimately boosting development outcomes. Throughout Africa, revenue from digital music streaming is expected to reach $500 million by 2025, up from only $100 million in 2017, according to the World Bank. 

The growth of creative and social enterprises is a means of addressing some of Africa’s most entrenched and complex challenges, specifically those arising from youth unemployment and unequal economic growth.

By helping to build sustainable businesses in the creative and cultural industries worldwide, and sharing our knowledge and experience through skills workshops, mentoring and peer networks, the British Council aims to help grow this important sector of economies in Africa.

Social and creative enterprises are more than just businesses; they help to sustain livelihoods and build strong and inclusive communities, supporting groups who are often left on the side-lines by traditional business models.

Forty-one per cent of social enterprises have a woman in charge – significantly more than in other businesses. More social enterprises aim to create jobs (78%) than profit-first businesses (27%).

Seventy-three per cent deliberately employ people from poor communities, compared to 56% of profit-first businesses. We estimate the number of jobs created in Africa by social enterprises to be between 28 million and 41 million.

It is worth noting that the sector has innovated rapidly, following the pandemic. During lockdown, many public and private providers moved content on-line for free to keep audiences engaged and satisfy the increased demand for cultural content.

This has opened the door to many future innovations. To capitalise on them, there is a need to address the digital skills shortages within the sector and improve digital access beyond large metropolitan areas.

What can be done to grow this sector?

As Africa’s workforce increases, the pressure for job creation rises along with it. Better employment opportunities for Africa’s youth call for a better understanding of Africa’s overall social and economic challenges and how to create an enabling environment for social entrepreneurs to thrive.

The British Council supports social enterprise. The organisation also understands that to focus on youth employability, there is a critical need to address gender inequalities in education in Africa.

Girls’ access to education is sorely lacking in several Africa countries and gender disparities in learning outcomes are also a critical concern across the region.

Our success stories in education

As the African social and cultural enterprise movement grows, our programmes continue to focus on accountability, collaboration and training to enable the sector to scale.

The British Council’s projects, some examples of which are outlined, are designed to be sustainable and easily scalable – across communities and geographies.

Coreskills for TVET 

• In South Africa, the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) has put an emphasis on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) to enable a skilled and capable workforce, who meet the demands of the labour market. The British Council is working with the DHET to improve the quality of teaching and learning at TVET institutions to achieve just that. 
• In 2019, we trained TVET practitioners to become facilitators of the Coreskills for TVET training programme. The group consisted of Regional DHET officials, TVET Deputy Principals in Academic, Curriculum Managers and Lecturers. We also delivered Coreskills for TVET virtual training to TVET lecturers and trainers in 2020. The trained lecturers are now champions of the programme in their colleges and regions and will help support the capacitation of colleagues and partners. 

Skills for Employability 

• Our Skills for Employability programme builds the skills of young people and adults, so they are able to work and compete in today’s globalised world. We encourage closer links between educational institutions and industry with a focus on strengthening the TVET sector and developing industry-led curricula across a wide range of sectors. 

I-WORK 

• Our I-WORK project (Improved Work Opportunities – Relayed Knowledge), promotes collaboration between policymakers, public and private organisations and the vocational education sector in developing and piloting new approaches to demand-led education, specifically apprenticeships. This was a collaborative project across Ghana, India, Malaysia, South Africa and the UK. 

• New approaches to employer-led training and employability of young people were implemented by six of South Africa’s TVET colleges resulting in upskilling of the young people who participated and a digital guide to provide young people with information on apprenticeship.

The way forward

Improvements in education go hand-in-hand with employability and the development of social enterprises that create jobs for those who need them most.

Despite the potential impact of social enterprises on job creation there is still relatively little policy or investment to support social enterprise.

There is a profound need for Africa governments to recognise social enterprises in policies and legislation as a priority for young people. We are committed to creating an enabling environment for social enterprise through policy makers, enterprise hubs and other intermediaries and investors.

Social and creative enterprises provide a unique opportunity to solve many of the prevalent social and environmental problems in the region, while at the same time contributing to economic growth and job creation and improving the social fabric.

For these reasons, private sector companies need to reassess their social investment and sustainability plans and provide proactive support, tangibly and consistently, to gender parity in education and to social and creative enterprise initiatives in Africa.

Importantly, programmes must be driven by Africans themselves. It is an absolute imperative that this continent and its young people possess the power and potential that will shape world order now and in future. We and they have what it takes.

The post Education for Employment appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

With the world’s youngest and fastest-growing populations, African countries are changing rapidly. The next generation is essential to the continent’s future and to global shared interests in creating a safer, healthier and more prosperous future for us all.

Because of its massive youth population, Africa holds unrealised and untapped talent and potential. At the same time, the economic growth and international relevance of the continent show that there is opportunity.

Now is the time to focus on building engagement and being deliberate about actions to create safer and more prosperous environments for youth to thrive.

It is with this in mind that the British Council is working in Africa to create an ecosystem that provides these young people with the networks, connections, and skills to empower them and prepare them for the future.

The future of the continent is already being shaped by its rapidly growing youth population. One example of the increasing global influence of this generation is the enormous success of Afrobeats, contemporary African music that is rapidly reshaping the sound and texture of pop music.

Building on existing networks

The British Council has been operating in Africa since the 1930s. As a result, we can foster connections by building on our existing networks and deep on-the-ground engagement and continuing to develop a strong understanding of our primary audience. Some of our most successful work has been done in partnership with other stakeholders.

Coupled with contributing to economic empowerment, innovation and employability in Africa, enabling connections, exchange and opportunities between Africa and the UK is aimed at creating strong and enduring networks with future leaders and influencers.

Through ongoing research in the region, we have made several key observations. According to the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, by 2050, a quarter of the working population in the world will be in Africa of primary importance to many are jobs, enterprise and livelihood.

Although effective citizen-state engagement is lacking – with young people especially marginalised from the community, policy and democratic decisions – evidence has shown that two-way citizen-state dialogue has increased trust.

Unrest and instability affect young people and women and girls disproportionately to other groups, while both groups play a key role in community-level peacebuilding. When it comes to the topic of migration, push, and pull factors need to be taken into consideration, as does the cross-fertilising of knowledge and skills through returnee migration.

Access to education and opportunity for mobility, progress and promotion remains key. The continent has leapfrogged the mobile revolution and, this presents opportunities to leverage technology and innovation for growth.

Against this backdrop, opportunities identified by young people themselves include the integration of technology in all sectors for sustainable development, building inclusive and resilient grassroots networks, mentoring schemes, opportunities for leadership in social transformation, and the prospect of governments and civil society organizations working hand in hand with young people to ‘build back better’.

One example of what can be achieved through such successful partnerships is the Innovation for African Universities (IAU) project, part of the Going Global Partnerships programme, to foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship at universities and facilitate the development of skills required to build industries, companies, products and services. It’s about working together internationally to ensure that higher education and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) meet the needs of our societies, economies and students.

Creating new narratives

The British Council partnered with Africa No Filter to develop nuanced and contemporary stories that shift stereotypical and harmful narratives within and about Africa.

As an example, our New Narratives programme is designed to help contribute to changing reciprocal perceptions between Africa and the West to stimulate fresh understanding which will unlock new connections and collaborations for mutual benefit.

The development of cooperative relationships can help to achieve financial improvements, economic growth, and other mutually beneficial goals.

The five-year programme contributes to updating the narratives of countries in Africa and the UK and strengthening connections between young people across both places. The programme will support young African and UK content creators and storytellers.

To help realise this vision, the British Council commissioned the Research, Insight and Evaluation (RIE) team at M&C Saatchi World Services to undertake a comprehensive investigation and their countries.

Both young Africans and young Britons complained of a lack of diversity and nuance in the ways in which they and their countries are represented internationally.

To help address their overarching concern with the perceived treatment of Africa as a monolithic entity, participants provided an array of examples which could be leveraged to present a more accurate representation of their own countries specifically, as opposed to just ‘Africa’ as a whole.

Beautiful natural regions, historically significant sites, local cultures and traditions, tribal and ethnic identities, local cuisine, and sports were all widely identified as salient reference points for building a more reflective and grounded representation of their country.

Other key reference points include music, nightlife, local activists and activism, locally or nationally cherished values, and the arts.

An opportunity to create new perceptions

The research indicates that we need to embrace our British heritage and be deliberate to create refreshed perceptions to build on our legacy and make an impact in the world of young Africans and the ever-changing needs of young people.

The objectives of the programme focus on what can be achieved through forging connections focused on strengthening inclusion. By engaging young people in Africa, we are working with the next generation to unlock their potential, build resilience and create stronger community networks, on the continent and internationally, to realise a more free, fair, prosperous and open society where youth can thrive.

We need to tackle outdated, incorrect and incomplete pictures from Africa and the best way to do this is to support and amplify young new voices.

This is a call for building mutually beneficial partnerships and connections between the West and Africa that can create opportunities and engagement through arts, enterprise, and education.

The post Creating an Ecosystem of Forward-thinking Stakeholders to Drive Africa’s Youth Ambitious Agenda appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.