Category: Small Business and Entreprenuership

Highly fascinated with the world of hospitality since childhood, the founder, The Legacy Custodian, Ore Okuboyejo, is driving a business that creates a benchmark in the ever-flourishing industry. His mission is to support the industry to create more jobs and boost growth. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

Chief Executive, The Legacy Custodian (LGC), Ore Okuboyejo, is the epitome of hard work, resilience, and fearlessness who ventured out of his comfort zone to achieve the impossible.

Today, he  sits atop his firm to conquer unknown territories through his entrepreneurial abilities. With a vision of making an impact in the hospitality domain, Okuboyejo, who is the founder of Legacy, has broken the monotony of the ordinary and holds the torch up high for young entrepreneurs to follow their dreams.

His words: “I started The Legacy Custodian out of frustration and my  experience with recruiting in business.”

His  company provides a range of commercial consulting, hospitality, and catering services.

Though he started small, the business has grown over the years. What has worked in his favour is  delivering quality service, always looking at trends. He has taken time to perfect his system, logistics, the ability to operate and manage excellence across multiple sites.
He said: “One thing l will say I got right from the onset was the goal to exceed customer expectations and till date, we have grown as a company and its our second nature to make customer satisfaction our first priority.”

He invests in training and leading his team to ensure that their services are is exceptional. He loves innovating and taking responsibility and opportunity very seriously.

He has seen that the industry has  expanded with innovative and forward-thinking brands and  he  is passionate about creating an excellent opportunity for growth and development.

He explained: “The two things that make us stand out is our dedication towards exceeding our clients expectations and investing in people. Human capital is our most important intangible asset. Not only our clients, but our team, too. From each placement to memorable dining experiences to high-energy nights at the bar, none of it would be possible without our dedicated and valued team. Throughout our growth, we’ve fostered a community of positivity, passion and service–and, as we continue to expand, we’re looking for those who share this mindset.”

He is passionate about everything that he does, and that includes his downtime. He and his team are developing new ideas to stay well ahead.

Is there anything he  would have done differently when he were first starting out?  He answered: “The speed of trust will help grow your business. I remember when one of my mentors gave me a book to read. At the time, I wasn’t much of a reader, but the book changed the way I view things till date.The book taught me the importance of trust and how it can improve all aspects of our lives – personal to productivity in the business.“

His advice to new entrants: “Get a good amount of working experience in the corporate world either by applying for an internship or getting a full time job. I started my journey many years ago. Even right from college, I knew I wanted to build my own empire.

“To understand working relationships, network, build a community before launching into the deep. Entrepreneurship is not a walk in the park, you will toil, you will have more downs than ups, but it teaches you a lot about business cycles.”

Lagos State government has created initiatives to engage with food entrepreneurs. One of such is the food festival, which provides an opportunity for them to explore new markets, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

Food tourism is lucrative for local, state and national economies. These days, tourists seek experiences that allow them to enjoy the cuisine of a culture. To this end, Lagos has inaugurated its annual food festival for tourists and foodies in search of authentic culinary experiences that expose them to new tastes. Food entrepreneurs now leverage the event  to promote their products and  to offer participants an opportunity  experience remarkable dining experience while the smile to the bank.

On the festival, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Abisoye Olusanya, said some food entrepreneurs have appreciated Lagos State for increased business visibility of their produce following the return of the fair. According to the her, one of the main reasons for organising the food festival was to project the diverse offerings of Nigeria’s food industry by connecting various businesses involved in the production and sale of food-related items to food enthusiasts.

She said thousands of food lovers were expected at the festival, and it promised to be a fantastic day, with live music, ‘roaming’ children’s entertainment and of course, delicious food.

She said this year’s edition, themed “A taste Of Africa” would attract chefs from Lagos, Nigeria and all other African countries, to showcase the ecosystem being created by the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration while enabling attendees to have a good time and give stakeholders across the food chain opportunities to interact with final end consumers and get feedback

“This year is a Taste of Africa and part of what we will be showcasing will be the Jollof war, there’s always this banter between Nigerians and Ghanaians about Jollof, I am fortunate to have experience both, I lived in Ghana for eight years, and I am a Nigerian, but trust me, nothing beats the Nigerian Jollof, Ghanaians can only try, they can only copy, I am yet to see that Ghanaian Jollof that can stand beside Nigerian Jollof. But amazingly, you know Jollof emanated from Senegal or so, I am hoping we can see Senegalese jollof. So that those who invented Jollof can come and prove whether they can hold their mettle”

“Invitations have been sent out on all our social media platforms for Chefs from all parts of Africa to be part of the programme and showcase the culinary skills of the various culture and people, Lagos is an all-inclusive ecosystem, we just want people to come and have fun” she said.

She said a lot of food vendors are expected to descend on Muri Okunola venue as there were testimonies of the event change the lives of participants financially. This year, there will be a star-studded line-up of celeb chefs making an appearance in the live demo kitchen .The food festival is drawing chefs from across the country as it celebrates local produce and agriculture. This year, there will be a star-studded line-up of celeb chefs making an appearance in the live demo kitchen.  She explained that top chefs will be free to teach participants how to make a few tasty staple dishes. Those in attendance, she added, would get to taste dishes that so many enjoy living in Lagos. According to her, Nigeria has such rich cuisine cultures and Lagos is the melting pot of what the country can offer. This year, there will be a star-studded line-up of celeb chefs making an appearance in the live demo kitchen. While celebrity chefs and foodies alike will descend on the town for the celebration of good food, which will see cookery demonstrations, live music and kids’ activities among the events on the programme, the Commissioner added that there will also be a huge range of exhibitors in the place. The event ,she testified  as lived up to its hype, as vendors converged from different parts of the country to showcase the best of Nigerian food, , and fresh farm produce from the farmers’ market.

According to her, the 2021 edition saw over N25 million in transactions and roughly 7,500 participants.

She said that the festival would not only give people in the different food chains a chance to talk to customers and get feedback, but it would also bring attention to the ecosystem that Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu is trying to build.

According to the commissioner, the programme would generate both direct and indirect employment for SMEs, artisans, and value chain participants.

Olusanya reassured attendees that the culinary festival will be fun, instructive, and thrilling. She also said that it would make a lasting impression on participants and visitors.

“The festival is open to the general public to attend with their children and wards to enjoy entertainment, the biggest fish auction, musical performances, games corner and seafood pavilion.

“Other activities are culinary competitions with celebrity chefs, as well as family cooking competitions among others. So far, the event has helped to put Lagos on the map in the culinary world. The Food festival has over time served as a platform for promoting food business enterprises in Lagos.  One of the Chefs who will be participating in the Food Festival and the Vice President, Culinary Arts Professionals Association, Nigeria, Mr. Gbolabo Adebakin. Adebakin is hailed as a top chef in the business. He specialises in big flavours and modern European cooking. He announced that an afro fusion menu of foods indigenous to Lagos State would be curated alongside what he called “the African Dining experience” during the event.

He said “Indigenous ingredients that are unique to Lagos, unique to Africa, and we are going to do something called “the African dining experience, we are encouraging people to be part of this when you come to the food festivals you’ll see what you haven’t seen before, this year, food will shine, Lagos Food will shine.”

Adebakin explained that they will be preparing all of the local produce, veggies, fruits, seafood and meats. Seafood will continue to be a fixture for the rest of the food festival. The food festival menu includes unique fish preparations where slices of fish are cooked with spices. Not only will visitors get a chance to sample food-style bites from best-known chefs, but the chefs themselves will man their own food stalls, and can be approached for meet-and-greets, and even to share the recipes of what they deem are their specialty dishes. The festival will provide stalls displaying food items such as vegetables, ready-to-eat products, spices and condiments, honey, cereals and dry fruits.

The Special Adviser on the Rice Initiative to the Governor,  Dr. Rotimi Fashola, believes the food festival would provide a testing ground for chefs to try new menus and concepts.

China has shown  support  for  economic cooperation with Nigeria. One area that has benefitted from this collaboration is the small and medium enterprises sector. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

The Chinese Government has shown interest in upping its economic relations with Nigeria in the last 10  years. In 2018, China Development Bank (CDB) and  United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc signed a $100 million seven-year loan agreement to finance the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Africa. The loan enhanced UBA’s capacity to provide access to finance to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across the 19 African countries where UBA operates.

At the signing, Chairman, UBA Plc, Tony Elumelu, said the fund would  boost small and medium scale enterprises across Africa, noting that CDB’s interest in supporting SMEs aligned with UBA’s vision in growing businesses across Africa.

“In UBA, CDB would have an enduring partner in reaching out to Africans as UBA provides banking services to over 14 million people across 20 African countries, and like CDB, UBA funds critical infrastructural projects on the continent,” Elumelu said.

He said he would like to see an even stronger relationship grow with CDB and UBA as well as with China and Nigeria.

The President of CDB, Zheng Zhijie, said the agreement was the beginning of cooperation between UBA and CDB that would translate into an enduring business relationship between China and Africa and Nigeria in particular.

This year, CDB has provided financial support for specialised and sophisticated small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country.

A total of 13.1 billion yuan ($1.84 billion dollars) in loans was granted in the first three quarters of 2022. The loan was to support high-quality development of 115 specialised and sophisticated SMEs that produce novel and unique products. CDB has a work plan for special loans and supportive policies to comprehensively improve the level and capacity of refined financial services.The bank has also rolled out preferential policies for specialised and sophisticated SMEs that produce novel and unique products to further lower their financing costs.

At this year’s  2022 Stanbic IBTC African-China Expo, the Chinese Consulate-General Lagos, Guo Pengwen, emphasised the Chinese Government’s readiness to work with all the countries to build an open world economy.

According to him, China and Nigeria as the important economies in Asia and Africa need to share trade cooperation to benefit the people of the two countries.

China is a huge market with a population of over 1.3 billion. In the coming 15 years, China’s import of goods and services are expected to exceed $ 30 trillion and $10 trillion respectively. Analysts believe this present enormous opportunities for countries around the world including Nigeria to explore.

The Managing Director, and Chief Executive Officer, Zeenab Export Limited,Victor Ayemere, praised the Federal Government for setting up the Nigerian export trade house in China.

He said the Nigerian export trade house Was a Nigerian warehouse in China that guides Nigerian exporters on logistics and marketing.

Senior consumer analyst, Stanbic IBTC, Fola Abimbola, highlighted that the import-export lag, issue of reforms, as well as the inability to utilise the key potentials as China has done is a challenge for Nigeria, further stating that “we need reforms to drive export growth which will ultimately be good for disposable incomes.”

Abimbola noted that Nigeria was in a situation whereby imports from China were three times the exports to China, productivity is growing slower than output, and while the population is growing three to four percent, the output is growing less than 1 percent.

To access the China market, the  Regional coordinator (South West) Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Samuel Oyeyipo, urged SMEs to ensure they meet all necessary certification requirements of counterpart countries.

Oyeyipo stated that most exporters or MSMEs, in Nigeria, have products that can compete in the international market, however, one of the issues noticed by the NEPC was most do not have the necessary certification to attest to the quality of the products, because MSMEs being weak in the capital cannot afford these certifications.

In confirmation of this, Ambassador of China to Nigeria, Mr. Cui Jianchun,  was quoted as saying: “We are committed to mutual benefits and win-win results, and work together to promote economic and social development for the greater benefit of our people.”

One  vehicle that China has used to promote business relationship with both countries is the  China International Import Expo (CIIE) which has been holding regularly in November in  Shanghai.

Report said  more than 40,000 Chinese and foreign buyers meet there  to explore business deals. The value of potential deals resulting from the nearly week-long event  is believed to be in excess of  $50 billion.

China holds CIIE to widen market access to the rest of the world and to support economic globalisation. Since inception of the event in 2018, the world’s largest import fair has provided a big opportunity for companies from developing countries to export their products to the Chinese market. Because of its central role in promoting China’s continued integration into the global economy, CIIE has received much attention from Africa, with participation from the continent increasing over the years. Nigerian firms have attended  the exhibition and  featured products, such as Adire. This year, the International Trade Centre (ITC) brought  almost 70 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises from 31 developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean to participate  in CIIE. The 67 small businesses promoted food and agricultural products, consumer goods and service offerings at the Enterprise and Business Exhibition.

ITC Executive Director Pamela Coke Hamilton said: “The China International Import and Expo provides an unparalleled platform for small businesses to connect with the Chinese market. We are supporting 67 small companies to participate in the China International Import Expo. ITC carefully selected these companies and worked with them to ensure their quality and capacities meet the requirements of the Chinese market.”

ITC’s contribution to CIIE is part of a long-term partnership with China to support South-South cooperation and trade competitiveness, with a focus on least developed countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia.

As an official partner of the Expo and in collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce of China (MOFCOM), ITC has supported the participation of more than 200 small businesses from more than 30 developing countries in this important exhibition since its inaugural event in 2018. By promoting their products and services, and organising business matchmaking events, ITC helps businesses take advantage of the Chinese market. In the past four years, ITC has helped them to reach business deals worth about $20 million.

The African Development Bank Group’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative has  launched its second call for proposals for the Women Entrepreneurship Enablers programme, targeting women’s business associations, incubators, accelerators, women-led cooperatives, and civil society organisations,promoting the development of women entrepreneurs on the continent. AFAWA aims to unlock $5 billion in financing for small and medium-sized enterprises owned and managed by women by 2026.

It is offering grants of up to $250,000 to organisations helping prepare African women-led businesses to drive the continent’s economies.

The programme supports projects that enhance the viability and sustainability of formal women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and enables them to access financing opportunities to grow their businesses.

The bank said successful proposals will demonstrate innovative approaches to building a supportive ecosystem for women’s entrepreneurship, aimed at improving access to finance for women SMEs.

It said enablers are expected to develop a comprehensive and sustainable capacity-building programme to enable access to finance in partnership with financial institutions. It said applicants from all 54 African countries are welcomed, including organisations in the Sahel region and North Africa . Eligible organisations may request one-time funding of between $100,000 and $250,000, which will be provided through the Bank’s Gender Equality Trust Fund.

“Our first call for Women Entrepreneurship Enablers proposals drew nearly a thousand applications from organisations doing some groundbreaking work to equip women with the tools to expand their businesses,” said  the Bank’s Director for Gender, Women and Civil Society,Malado Kaba.

“Today, we are excited to pursue this initiative by bringing in a second cohort and funding the development of their capacity building activities allowing women entrepreneurs to obtain significant financing and scale,” she said.

“Entrepreneurship enablers play an important role in bolstering the skills of women to establish ‘bankable’ SMEs. However, the enablers themselves often face challenges, such as viable long-term growth plans and lack of financing, which reduce their reach, impact, and sustainability” said AFAWA’s Manager, Esther Dassanou.

Following the first call for proposals, issued in May last year, AFAWA selected 10 pan-African organisations with demonstrated success in mobilising finance for women entrepreneurs.

They are: AECF (Kenya); Seedstars (Tanzania); African Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (South Africa); Graça Machel Trust (South Africa); Entreprenarium (Rwanda); Women in Africa (WIA) Initiative (Nigeria); Transformational Business Network (Kenya and Uganda); Creative SpaceNG (Nigeria); E4Impact (Kenya); and PAWA Africanization (South Africa).

All proposals are to be received by November 25.

AN entrepreneur, Mr. Innocent Ikechukwu, has urged

Nigerians to appreciate goods produced in the country.

He said though it takes a lot to make these goods, many of them meet global standards.

Ikechukwu, who is the Managing Director, IKILeads Company, stated this when his company launched three products into the market.

Ikechukwu said the new products will contribute to economic development and that the firm has been improving on its brands to compete with others in the market.

He stated: “What we are launching is not just our brand, it is an economic development. We, as investors, have got to a point that what we do, our idea, our lives reflect to benefit mankind.

“If we start being proud of our made-in-Nigeria products, I think our economic development will be in a more better shape than what we are having.

“We, at IKILead, and other industries, are pushing, improving our brands, making our products competitive to any brand anywhere anytime. I think at the stage we are, we still have more to develop. They say change is something we meet constantly and it’s something still coming. What we are seeing today, we believe in the nearest future, when we meet and come back to celebrate with us, you will see a more better improved and more progressing brand.”

The new products are Pasa Bitters, Polocub Premium Vodka, and Meridian Club Cream.

At the event were Yomi Casual, PrettyMike, Ogbulu Chidinma Pearl, and Hon. Martins Emeka Chinedu, who represents Ahiazu/Ezinitte Federal Constituency, Imo State, at the House of Representatives.

 

The leaders of official export credit  agencies (ECAs) from the G7 nations – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and the United States of America – were hosted by Export Development Canada in Toronto, Canada to discuss a number of pressing geopolitical, economic and sustainability matters impacting exporters and global trade flows.

Discussions examined how the G7 ECA Heads are moving their organisations forward on digitalisation, climate change, inclusive trade, and how ECAs can serve as strategic accelerators for the growth of small- and medium-sized exporters.

In light of Russia’s egregious invasion of Ukraine, the G7 ECA Heads focused on the impacts on global supply chains, energy security, and how ECAs can support their exporters through turbulent times and how they can work together to support Ukraine as it rebuilds.

The G7 ECA Heads were unified in their strong desire to heighten their relevance to their nations’ exporters and explored ways to accelerate collective efforts to modernise the Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits.

Acknowledging the themes expressed in the recent G7 Political Leaders’ Communique, the ECA Heads recognised the need for bold contributions to climate action and discussed alignment of shared climate policy obligations and ongoing efforts to support companies through the global energy transition.

For the first time, the G7 ECA Heads invited Growing Professionals from within their organisations to participate in the meetings. This mentorship initiative is in the spirit of fostering the next generation of international trade professionals. The Growing Professionals’ own Joint Statement is enclosed herein.

The G7 ECA Heads agreed on the importance of more frequent engagement and collaboration to ensure meaningful progress on these issues and will meet virtually in December 2022.

Nigeria loses huge foreign exchange, no thanks to low production of sorghum and sesame. Also, few jobs have been created along the value chains of these produce. However, there are moves to implement a public-private partnership project that will enhance development of the sector, by adopting technology to increase farmers’ income, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

Nigeria exported agricultural goods worth N343.4 billion in the first half of the year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). This was an increase of 17.3 per cent, from the N292.8 billion recorded in the corresponding period last year. It was, however, a rise of 61.9 per cent compared to N212.1 billion recorded in the second half of last year.

Sesame seeds were among the agric goods that Nigeria exported during the period, earning Nigerians an aggregate N262.99 billion. Sesame seeds export in the review period stood at N81.49 billion, representing 0.6 per cent of Nigeria’s export in the first half of the year.

Indeed, reinvigorating crops that provide health benefits as well as jobs and growth has been intense. It involves identifying the opportunities around sesame seeds and sorghum. The expected outcomes could improve smallholder farmers’ livelihoods, and make healthy food more accessible to Nigerians.

During  the inauguration of Technical Committee to ‘Streamline the existing Sorghum varieties’ that would meet domestic and industrial demands of the commodity in Abuja, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Ernest Umakhihe, stated that multinational companies, especially breweries, are in high demand of the commodity, following its relevance as they use about 40 per cent as barley base for production of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

According to Umakhihe, who was represented by the Director, Federal Department of Agriculture, FDA, Karima Babangida, while food producing companies use it in production of cereals, flour mills use sorghum in place of wheat as composite flour to serve as major ingredient in making various confectioneries, including bread, biscuits, cracker, cakes, couscous, infant foods and cookies.

He said: “Food products, which serve as one of the ingredients are Indomie, spaghetti and macaroni. In addition, the non-food industrial use of sorghum as grits also exists in aluminium ore refining, animal feeds, building materials and foundry binders.

“The prevalence of many varieties and cultivars was identified as the major problem leading to low sorghum productivity resulting in the supply shortfall. “The varieties are not what are needed by our food industries. “This necessitated the need to streamline the varieties to meet our food, industrial and export needs.

“To achieve this, the Ministry has, therefore, set up this Technical Committee to streamline the varieties and find other ways of improving productivity and quality of Sorghum produce.”

He added: “This is essential as it will also enhance farmers’ income, attract more youth to sorghum cultivation, meet our national demand and contribute to the growth of the Gross Domestic Product(GDP).”

To further promote the farming and production of sesame and sorghum, farmers in Bauchi State have been trained on crop cultivation to meet international standards and the modern procedures for exportation.

It  was organised by the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute, (ARMTI),  Ilorin, Dr Olufemi Oladunni, to impart the  knowledge to the targeted farmers.

Oladunni said the institute was working to foster partnerships and projects that would aid in the agricultural development of  Bauchi by  developing  and implementing  a scalable sesame and sorghum  value chain project  that would engage stakeholders.

He said the institute was excited to work with the Bauchi State Government to create innovative solutions to boost sesame and sorghum production that are commercially sustainable, scalable and socially inclusive.

He said “The  National Exportation workshop is focused on the export product development for Sesame and Sorghum; two commodities in which your farmers are quite proficient and in which Bauchi State has comparative advantage. So, what ARMTI seeks to do through this workshop is to first identify the challenges presently confronting our farmers along these two value chains, come up with viable solutions and strategies for these challenges, and strengthen linkages.”

The National President, Association of Small Business Owners of Nigeria Nigeria (ASBON), Dr Femi Egbesola, has said Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are the worst hit by the prevailing economic crisis.

He called on the Federal Government to collaborate with business stakeholders for the growth and development of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

He called on the government to pay more attention to SMEs, being the engine of growth.

Egbesola said due to the challenges facing small businesses, ASBON  researched on SMEs’ challenges and the way out, noting that the study indicated that SMEs’ performance varies with the choice of the government’s policy they adopted.

He said: “The results confirmed the findings of most previous studies, as it indicates that business growth of SMEs correlates significantly with the government’s policy. Specifically, the findings indicate that government policy has a positive influence on the business growth of SMEs if it is done in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.

“This implies that any increase in growth and development of the SME sector will be triggered if there are proper government policies in place.”

According to him, the economy can only thrive and grow if the government practises continuous Public-Private Partnership/Dialogue (PPP/PPD) with major stakeholders in the SMEs industry.

He said the economy would gain a lot if SMEs’ stakeholders were duly represented in the policies on small business matters.

He said while the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)made it easier for large enterprises to access dollars from the commercial banks, MSMEs often found it difficult and were constrained to resort to the parallel market.

According to him, there has been a huge dollar shortage in the country, worsened by the volatility usually associated with elections and indirect primaries, in which case politicians mop up dollars from the parallel market and commercial banks.

 

Decentralised renewables have created many jobs with efforts by private sector organisations to inaugurate off-grid-based energy infrastructure in Nigeria and other parts of Africa. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

When the first yearly jobs census on employment from decentralised renewable energy (DRE) for rural electrification in Africa and Asia, entitled: “Powering Jobs Census 2019: the Energy Access Workforce’’, was released by Power for All, it showed that slot of jobs had been created from the people employed  to install  solar for home and business, green mini-grids and machinery for productive use such as irrigation pumps.

The census provided the most comprehensive and granular data on energy access jobs created by DRE. Supported by Schneider Electric Foundation and The Rockefeller Foundation, it was timed to the United Nations review this year of Sustainable Development Goal 8 (SDG 8, or Decent Work.

The census spotlighted the energy skills needed to achieve SDG 7 access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

Though it surveyed three countries  India, Kenya and Nigeria, it was extended to 25 countries last year.

Power for All’s Chief Research Officer and census lead researcher, Dr. Rebekah Shirley, noted: “The Powering Jobs census offers strong evidence of the important link between energy access and employment in countries where rural joblessness is at record highs. Policy-makers, donors and the private sector have an opportunity to increase support for decentralised renewables and build a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workforce for the energy infrastructure of the future.”

According to the census, the sector created decent work for youths (representing 40 per cent of DRE jobs), which can be an important response to the growing challenge of youth unemployment in emerging economies.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimated that off-grid renewables for energy access can create at least 4.5 million direct jobs by 2030.

“Energy access is key to building a modern, more equitable economy,” said Associate Director of The Rockefeller Foundation’s power initiative, Suman Sureshbabu.

“As the Powering Jobs census shows, growth of the decentralised renewable energy sector not only provides new, high-skilled jobs in countries with growing labour forces but improves equity by increasing economic opportunities for rural communities. When people can access affordable, reliable electricity that can be employed for productive purposes, they have the means to move up the income ladder, creating a virtuous cycle. With greater economic opportunities, rural communities can better afford electricity.”

This year, Power for All Distributed Renewable Energy Job Report, noted that the DRE sector was  a major source of stable employment with an estimated 374,000 jobs across Africa and 80,000 in India.

According to the survey respondents, 71 percent of the jobs in India are skilled, 56 per cent in Nigeria, and 43 per cent in Kenya. Ethiopia, with arelatively underdeveloped DRE sector, has 25 percent skilled workers.

The  report observed that the  sector  was becoming a major employment engine, especially in remote rural areas in emerging and developing economies where poverty and unemployment levels are high. In addition, it is helping to achieve universal electricity access while supporting the world’s transition to clean energy.In order to realise the social and economic benefits of DRE, the report calls for efforts from stakeholders in the public, private, and non-profit sectors to ensure the human capital is in place.

“With DRE recovering from the impact of the pandemic faster than the broader economy its promise is clear, however, significant challenges remain,” said Chief Executive, Power for All, Kristina Skierka.

“Energy regulations need to be overhauled to accommodate renewables and other energy innovations, foreign investment encouraged, and structural issues like access to foreign capital and licensing restrictions resolved to grow DRE jobs and realise the sector’s potential.”

According to the report, the DRE sector is a significant contributor to job creation in energy poor countries with the potential to create direct employment for up to half a million people in Africa by 2030. The sector showed great resilience in the face of COVID-19 with jobs returning in 2021 and surpassing pre-pandemic levels in most of the study countries.