WORLD ENTREPRENEURS’ DAY : SIDI SACCOH SHARES ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND THE FUTURE

By now, you must have heard or read about entrepreneurship and how it is changing the world. But what is entrepreneurship? I will leave you to think about that, while drawing from the many pieces of information you may have gathered about it.

About 50 years ago, the buzz around entrepreneurship was not as it is now, while entrepreneurship has been around for a long time, it is important to note that there has always been a continuous increase in the knowledge of entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship in itself as a context has changed over time, from the more traditional definition of “risk-taking”, investment in new business for profit to a more refined definition combing the traditional definition and the universal ideology around solution- seeking, impact-driving, and so on.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

This is so because we have seen the world change right in front of our eyes, due to breathtaking solutions that have been launched by incredible entrepreneurs across the world. Entrepreneurs have brought us closer to each other (social media and the internet) through the use of powerful technology. They have opened up endless possibilities and have consistently been at the forefront of finding solutions to everyday problems.

It is no hidden fact that the world still faces tremendous challenges on different fronts, but with entrepreneurship, whether be it social entrepreneurship or not, there is incredible hope for the future.

So, what hope do we have for the future with entrepreneurship at its core?

The answer to the above question is very simple, In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs across different sectors have been racing to bring solutions to some of the world’s foremost underlying problems. Through many ideations, challenges, etc, entrepreneurs have developed solutions from the Medical Field, to Fin-tech, Fashion, Agriculture, Edu-tech, and many more. These solutions are very visible even as the world battles COVID-19. For instance, with the use of digital technology, students continue schooling from the comfort of their homes, small business owners have seen an increase in platforms dedicated to bringing solutions to access to capital. Innovators have worked hard to bring a more easily manufactured and cost-effective life-saving ventilator machine (A very key instrument needed in the fight against COVID-19) and the list goes on.

Entrepreneurship has not only created millions of jobs worldwide but has completely transformed economies and grow the middle class, even as the world races towards curbing poverty, diseases, etc. The truth is no matter how much money under-developed countries receive from donor organisations; it will only take entrepreneurs to bring an absolute upscale of their economies.

Due to its tremendous impact, many people are now venturing into entrepreneurship as it has become an exciting career path, but more so, it has provided opportunities for new classes of professionals to explore themselves or become “Intrapreneurs” or effective leaders.

The increase in the number of entrepreneurs does not mean entrepreneurship is an easy route. The chances of making it as an entrepreneur with that mindset (easy, fast way to make money, etc) will be very close to zero. Entrepreneurs like many others are consistently battling different challenges ranging from bad policies, to access to capital. In all of the many challenges they face, one thing remains constant- for any nation to accelerate its economic activities and for the world to evolve into something much better, we need entrepreneurs to take the lead.