Black entrepreneurs: powering Africa's equitable industrial revolution

THE REAL NUMBERS

- NOMVULA MABUZA

ists generated R80 billion in 2023, yet their footprint is dwarfed by opportunity: black ownership in manufacturing and energy languishes at 8.5%. Continent-wide, SMEs—many black-led—fuel 80% of jobs but just 20% of GDP.

This mismatch screams inefficiency. Scaling these enterprises could turbo-charge growth, but only if we address the chokeholds.

The barriers are not accidents—they're legacies. In South Africa, Black Economic Empowerment policies limp along, with black ownership in key sectors stuck below 10%.

Capital is a choke point: black entrepreneurs secure just 15% of venture funding compared to white peers, with Ghanaian SMEs 30% less likely to get loans and Nigerian firms crippled by 20% interest rates. Infrastructure is another shackle. Rural Kenyan firms spend 15% of revenue on generators due to erratic power.

In South Africa, shoddy transport networks strand township businesses. A 2022 study pegs infrastructure deficits as slashing SME productivity by 40% across sub-Saharan Africa.