Alldens Lane has encouraged women entrepreneurs to embrace the strategic and leadership responsibility of being significant job creators in the economy.

According to the leading business advisory and consulting firm, this can be done through an adoption of enhanced and deliberate business strategy and operations capability, as directed by the Forbes Insights’ report on job creation in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Forbes Insight report, which was developed in partnership with leading global communications consultancy Djembe Communications, affirms that it is today’s young and emerging business leaders who will ultimately create responsive and directed African solutions to Africa’s critical economic and social challenges, and in so doing create jobs whilst driving social mobility.

The findings of the report, which identity key sectors of growth for the continent, were determined after a series of decisive surveys among 4000 young people aged between 16 and 40 from Angola, Ghana, Mozambique and Nigeria.

In the specific Ghana case study, when asked about the most important issues for Ghana’s future, 50% of respondents cited job creation for the younger generation as a priority.

Respondents considered entrepreneurs (33%), technology (44%), education/educators (35%), government (31%) and foreign investment (23%) as drivers of that job creation over the next five years, citing that entrepreneurs and business owners in particular would represent 53% of job creators over the next five years.   

The report sheds light on the largely positive views sub-Saharan Africans have about entrepreneurs.

Alldens Lane, with its unique focus on providing advisory services as well as executive and business coaching to women entrepreneurs and female CEOs in Africa’s small and growing business sector, has called on women to heed this as a call to action.

Founder and Principal of Alldens Lane, Ruka Sanusi indicated that “If women entrepreneurs are to leverage this optimism of an increasingly favourable marketplace and become key drivers of job creation, it will take the demonstration of a compelling vision, resilience as well as strategic leadership.”

Her comments are in tandem with an Ernst and Young’s report on how women-owned businesses can recharge the global economy.

That report states that to help women-owned businesses grow and create jobs, there needs to be a deliberate improvement in their access to capital, the global supply chain and business networks, all of which can help them scale.

The report also states that data from The World Bank, The World Economic Forum and other organisations continue to demonstrate that women-owned businesses can be the tipping point for a global economic comeback.

Ms. Sanusi added, “Running a business successfully needs focussed, deliberate leadership and women entrepreneurs and CEOs can lead the way in that regard through purposeful transformational leadership.

“That is, identifying the pain of your clients and stakeholders in your sphere of influence, and being committed to positively and persuasively transforming that sphere of influence, your team, and society at large with a particular premium product or service that is presented to society in an equally premium, intentional manner.”

She emphasised that people, whether staff or clients, want to be part of something bigger than themselves; and that women entrepreneurs and CEOS, through their businesses and with transformational leadership, have the opportunity to purposefully respond to that higher call through their businesses whilst also leveraging the opportunities that the market place presents. 

Alldens Lane are business strategy advisors.  The firm has a unique focus on providing women-owned and women-led enterprises with advisory support, business direction, and thought provoking business performance and growth analytics, from which they can grow and transform their businesses – and their lives.