Africa entrepreneurship potentials are limitless – World Bank’s IFC head

Phillip Le Houerou, chief executive of the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), says on Saturday that there is no limit to the potential of entrepreneurship in Africa.

In Africa, IFC saw the power of dreams and the capacity to turn these dreams into reality, Le Houerou said, describing entrepreneurs as fundamental tools to create the jobs of tomorrow. He referred to the possibility to witnessing several Silicon Valleys in Africa in the future.

“There will not be one Silicon Valley. There will be many Silicon Valleys— many of them in Africa.” Le Houérou at the Youth Entrepreneurship Day at the Africa 2018 Forum, which kicked off in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.

However, entrepreneurs in Africa still need to think about supply differently, as supply can create demand not only the other way; it is a two-way street, IFC official added.

“At IFC, we have more advisory officers than investment officers. This is because if you want to go more upstream you need more advisory as an entrepreneur,” Le Houérou said.

Earlier, IFC released white paper on the next generation of entrepreneurs in Africa. The white paper said unleashing the potential of the private sector is needed to create new and better jobs—the most promising pathway to poverty reduction in Africa.

“Transformational entrepreneurship could be at the heart of the emergence of a new private sector that delivers on this promise.” IFC’s white paper read.