Starting a business is an act of faith, resilience and a formidable attitude backed by a positive ecosystem that is powered by the Government.

Starting and running a business involves challenges, but excessive bureaucracy and a hostile ecosystem should not be one of them. Regulations and right policies that enhances the ease of business is vital to creating an ecosystem that supports the growth of entrepreneurs.

The truth is that organizations cannot succeed without government intervention, putting policy in place that support entrepreneurship and startups.

What is an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem?

In 2010, Professor Daniel Isenberg from Babson college published an article in the Harvard Business Review that helped to boost the awareness of the concept. The diagram below shows the nine major elements that are considered important to the generation of an entrepreneurial ecosystem

Source:Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Mazzarol (2014)

According to Isenberg, this strategy replaces or becomes a pre-condition for the successful deployment of cluster strategies, innovation systems, knowledge economy or national competitiveness policies. Ekiti state must therefore create an ecosystem that drive an innovative culture among its youth, make available finance that will help and encourage more young people to go into business. This can be done by developing quality human capital through institutions and various entrepreneurial development centres and incubation hub, create friendly markets for products, create ranges of institutional supports and put policies that will favour the entrepreneurial community in the state.

Entrepreneurship In Ekiti State

There is no doubt that in recent times a lot more young Nigerians are interested in starting a business, while some few states have been able to create a positive entrepreneurial driven ecosystem some states are yet to catch the vibes, some states seems to be confused on what to do in establishing a system that encourage the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Some of this states are still stuck with creating jobs by employing more people into civil service or creating more nonfunctional parastatals that can employ more people.

However, this is just like adding salt to injury, because no Government or state can succeed by being solely Civil service oriented. Most times Governments use their allocations to pay salaries and allowances to cater for the remuneration of workers and as such are not been able to carry out its other duties, build infrastructures and assist in providing funds to capital projects that will benefit the state. It is pathetic that most governments in Nigeria fall into the trap of creating job for their citizens, employing more people into the civil service because they are trying to score political points or listening to the cry of the masses despite running a deficit-financed government.

A recent opinion poll carried out by CrowdForce, a data crowdsourcing platform in Nigeria (crowdforce.io), on the Focus of Next Government after the 2018 Gubernatorial elections in Ekiti state, indicates that about 85% of the 4970 interviewed respondents are agitating that the government should create more jobs.

While it is pertinent for any Government to heed the cry of its people, it is however advisable that this should be done strategically with great hindsight and a clear foresight. Governments should look more into creating an environment that fosters Job creation by investing heavily in Entrepreneurship studies and creating an ecosystem that support entrepreneurship. The south east and Lagos-state seems to have been able to put policies in place to support entrepreneurs and startups. However states like Ekiti, where the Crowdforce poll was carried, seems to have done very little in enhancing entrepreneurship in the state, despite the buzzing startup ecosystem in nearby states.

It is however imperative that the Government of Ekiti-State should focus more on creating an environment that support entrepreneurship rather than employ more people into the state civil service. This will greatly reduce the job creation burden placed on the state government and create a more forward thinking state that attracts investors.

Entrepreneurship has positive effects on the local communities as well as the economy as a whole, in fact there is a positive camaraderie between entrepreneurship, growth and job creation. In 2007, startups in the USA accounted for nearly 8 million of the 12 million new jobs created in the US economy. It is then very important for the next Governor of Ekiti state to begin developing policies and reforms that can help the ecosystem within the state.

Key Recommendations for a Government-Led Entrepreneurship Policy in Ekiti State