Bridging Africa’s youth aspirational gap: unlocking high-growth entrepreneurship

Africa's youth are brimming with entrepreneurial ambition. Yet, despite an estimated 75% aspiring to start businesses, most face significant barriers that prevent them from turning ideas into thriving enterprises. Limited access to finance, weak support systems, and restrictive regulatory environments force many into "survival" businesses, ventures born of necessity rather than opportunity. These businesses rarely scale, generate few jobs, and contribute minimally to long-term economic transformation. Lastly, and as a long-term consequence: it might generate precarious and informal jobs.

If Africa is to harness the energy, creativity, and innovative spirit of its young people, bridging the aspirational gap is vital. Building an ecosystem that enables youth to move beyond "survival' entrepreneurship toward high-growth entrepreneurship that can create jobs, generate revenue, and drive sustainable development and structural transformation in Africa is imperative.

These are the discussions at the heart of an upcoming webinar on Tuesday, 17^th March 2026 hosted by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and its new flagship initiative, the Africa Development Impact Forum (ADIF). Collaborating with the African Development Bank, Argidius Foundation, Bunaroma Coffee Exporters, the Ethiopian Ministry of Innovation and Technology and Google.

The webinar will bring together voices from research, policy, investment, and practice to focus on one core challenge: the systemic barriers that prevent young entrepreneurs from launching and growing innovative, scalable, growth-oriented enterprises, and explore concrete solutions to address them.

A Continental Conversation Linked to Action

This webinar, "Promoting High-Growth Youth Entrepreneurship for Job Creation in Africa" is part of the pre-forum stock-take series for the Africa Development Impact Forum (ADIF), which will convene on 11^th and 12^th June 2026 under the theme: Best Practices and Innovative Solutions for Job Creation in Africa. ADIF is designed as an action-oriented platform, explicitly focused on bridging the gap between applied research and policy implementation. Its three-stage model combines:

1. Evidence-based dialogue and challenge-setting,

2. Co-design and policy commitments at the annual forum, and

3. A 12-month "Implementation Clock" to support learning, monitoring, and scaling what works.

What the Webinar Will Explore

Drawing insights from across the entrepreneurship ecosystem, including youth voices, government, business development services, the private sector, and development finance institutions, the webinar will:

• Examine how regulatory reforms can create a conducive environment for high-growth enterprises to thrive.

• Explore strategies to expand youth-friendly financing and strengthen business development services tailored to young entrepreneurs.

• Highlight sectors with the greatest potential for scalable, growth-oriented enterprises in Africa that enable job creation, and

• Recommend concrete policy measures to empower youth-led businesses to thrive.

Written by: Jane Wangui Muthumbi

ADIF Leads: Veronica Masubo, Flavia Domingas Mendes Ba; Mbathio Samb and Martha Anbner

Engage. Contribute. Be part of the solution.

Join us:

Webinar: Promoting High-Growth Youth Entrepreneurship for Job Creation in Africa

Date: Tuesday, 17 March 2026, 10am-12:00pm (GMT) - 1-3 p.m. (EAT)

Link: https://un-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_36fSbyRNRv6RmjubEklUiw
Hosted by: UNECA and the Africa Development Impact Forum (ADIF) in collaboration wit Africa Development Bank, Argidius Foundation and the Ministry of Innovation and Technology Ethiopia