Contribution to the debate on youth employment: What you need to know... (By Issa Barro, PhD)

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Publications , Private Sector - Entrepreneurship - Access to Financial Services Contribution to the debate on youth employment: What you need to know... (By Issa Barro, PhD) For some time now, thanks to current events, many compatriots have been trying to contribute in the search for relevant solutions to the thorny issue of employment. Without being "expert" on this issue, but based on my diverse experience, I will participate in the debate and shed light on certain aspects. First of all, how is the job defined and why did this happen? There are two concepts: employment and self-employment. Employment defines the practice of a profession in the context of an activity remunerated by salary, salary (in the public service) or fees (for self-employed). It is then governed by a contract signed between an employer and an employee. Clearly, the profile of the job seeker must match what the employer is looking for in order for there to be a chance of contract. In other words, the training of job seekers must be correlated with market needs. This is true everywhere else. As someone once said, “Don’t sell what you produce; produce what you sell.” Self-employment, according to the traditional standard definition, refers to an individual approach of creating a micro-enterprise to access a status of self-employed or self-employed in his new company. It refers to the status of the person who carries out the activity on his own account and whose remuneration is directly linked to the company’s results. They are "workers working on their own account" within the meaning of the ILO's International Occupational Status Classification (ICSP). Thus, we found ourselves in a situation where, on the one hand, we formed profiles with little relevance to business demand, and, on the other hand, we sought to promote self-employment to absorb young people with or without training and thus try to reduce unemployment. For decades, the state has been struggling to find solutions to address this issue. Those of my generation knew the accompanying policies such as "Operation Maîtrisards", Public Service Agencies, etc. The current President inherited the file, probably with greater acuity given the increase in the working age population. The Government is doing its utmost to resolve this issue, within the limits of its own constraints, including budgetary constraints. Thus, probably because of the low employment opportunity, the idea is to turn more and more towards self-employment, entrepreneurship. New paradigm: entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is on everyone’s lips today: on many levels – Even at very high levels – we are convinced, probably rightly, that the issue of employment will be solved by entrepreneurship (in any case, it is included in policies as one of the key elements). This may explain the high number of varied initiatives to promote youth and women entrepreneurship. Beware though: entrepreneurship and employment are two distinct realities, even if one can help develop the other. In other words, the motivation behind entrepreneurship should not have as a priority goal the resolution of the issue of unemployment! How much time and resources will it take before we get to this point? Here are the reasons: First, statistics have shown, out of 100 companies that are created in Africa, only 10 manage to celebrate their 3rd anniversary! The other 90 usually disappear long before, thus sending back, in most cases, their unemployed promoters. Certainly, mechanisms have been devised to improve the success rate and sustainability of companies created, in particular through incubators and accelerators that, through their coaching products, allow high levels of success. Make no mistake, however: successful incubators with success rates of 80-85% (i.e. 85 out of 100 companies supported survive even beyond 5 years, thus guaranteeing their sustainability) succeed because they have implemented an extremely selective method at the entrance, recognizing that not everyone has the attributes of entrepreneur! Indeed, the promoters who are accompanied are only those who demonstrate a high potential to become entrepreneurs. The others are not accepted. It is the same as if, to go to university, we only select those who had an average of 17 or more in the Baccalaureate; it is clear that their chances of success are almost obvious! Then, if you turn to business creation simply because you are looking for a job, the chances of success are limited. In other words, entrepreneurship “out of necessity” does not usually lead to success and sustainability. Indeed, there is a significant difference between “necessity” and “opportunistic” entrepreneurs. A study by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor in 1999 on the relationship between SME creation and job creation, had also shown that the impact of SMEs on job creation was limited, and that this was precisely because entrepreneurs were more motivated by the need to find a job for themselves (thus entrepreneurs "out of necessity") than by the need to seize business opportunities! In addition, the issue of entrepreneurship is not limited to the provision of financing. Granted, it is useful to get financing at the start-up and throughout the life of the company, but this is only one element among others. Very often, initiatives to promote the creation of businesses for young people put financing at the forefront. This can have a perverse effect: indeed, young people without any entrepreneurial experience, or even the attributes of an entrepreneur rush to present business plans. – that were not even developed by them – to benefit from loans. There is a high risk of failure of such initiatives not sufficiently prepared and implemented by young people without sufficient experience. If a few succeed, many fail, causing financial losses that reveal the low viability of these approaches. Finally, the high cost to the State of entrepreneurship policies for job creation must be highlighted. Generally, the cost of creating a job is estimated at US$20,000 (this figure may vary depending on contexts and periods, but it is an indication of the importance of the financial efforts that the state makes through its job creation programs). When we relate it to the mass of jobs that it is necessary to create in order to meet, even if only at an acceptable rate, on demand, we very quickly arrive at sums difficult to sustain by the state budget! Unless we turn to strategies of major public works (example: AGETIP) which, at times, are associated with low remuneration and are not very productive. Clearly, therefore, when one seeks only to address the issue of unemployment through massive job creation, it turns out that the road to entrepreneurship is neither the shortest route nor the least expensive approach for the state.

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