Chris Ogbechie, a Professor of Strategic Management and the Dean at Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University has urged African youth to join the train of opportunities present in different sectors to enhance growth in the continent.
The professor said this at the virtual 9th edition of the annual Africa Business Conference themed, ‘Africa as a lever for global growth; creating opportunities in emerging growth sectors’ monitored by Nairametrics.
The event featured speakers across fields such as fintech, agriculture, real estate, fashion, retail and creative services as they explored the high growth and employment potential associated with these industries.
What they are saying
Advising youths across the African continent to tap into opportunities in the fintech space, agricultural industry and creative sectors amongst other thriving sectors, Ogbechie pointed out that Africans, particularly those in their youthful age, have continued to raise a lot of money in the fintech space whilst also highlighting that the movie industry has seen great improvement in recent times.
Also commenting on the immense growth opportunity in the agricultural space, the LBS professor said that the food and agro-allied industry in Nigeria provides an enormous opportunity as Nigeria only cultivates 40% of its arable land. In lieu of this, he submitted that the giant of Africa can be the food basket of the world and the driver of growth.
Similarly, Bode Abifarin, Chief Operating Officer, Flutterwave said that the untapped potential in Africa presents a significant opportunity for rapid growth leveraging on population size, economy and investment outlay as seen in areas like the agriculture, financial services, healthcare, creative sector, education and retail.
However, she noted that there are a number of barriers to navigate to scale across the continent in terms of regulation, compliance and fraud.
Noting that regulatory regimes across jurisdiction may be wholly different, she added that complete compliance to all regulatory mandates and international certification standards is required though many businesses face difficulty interpreting statuses and regulation
She also stated that fraud and other malpractices can cause loss of customer trust and harm business operations, hence the need for a robust anti-fraud and monitoring unit to instill confidence.
What you should know
The Africa Business Conference is an annual forum for business leaders, financiers and policymakers across Africa and the world; including investors seeking to do business in Africa with the aim of generating insights and trends to impact value creation and propel the continent into an advanced economy.