Africa’s Challenges

Africa faces a pressing unemployment crisis, which is worsened by rapid population growth. The rising unemployment threatens regional security and increasing migration pressures. Traditional job creation strategies have fallen short, necessitating innovative, homegrown, context-sensitive solutions.

Solution

The One Kindred One Business Initiative (OKOBI) model, grounded in the principles of Africapitalism, offers a transformative approach to tackling unemployment and its adverse effects in Africa. Africapitalism advocates for (1) inclusive development, (2) parity, and (3) community empowerment as pillars for reimagining capitalism within African contexts. OKOBI, as a practical application of Africapitalism is an attempt to harness existing communal social ties which are deployed to other non-economic activities to unlock shared prosperity. It leverages these ideals by promoting collective entrepreneurship, thereby addressing key challenges of individual-based entrepreneurship such as limited access to capital and high risk of failure, to a more collaborative model that builds on indigenous traditions of shared ownership, collective action, and mutual support amongst kindreds.

This innovative framework has already been adopted by over 300 businesses in Imo State, Nigeria, creating over 5,000 jobs and attracting the interest of major corporations. OKOBI is redefining corporate community engagement by replacing traditional philanthropy with a sustainable, community-driven business approach. The initiative is not only formalizing business structures and empowering marginalized communities, but also providing a scalable blueprint for economic empowerment in Africa and beyond.

Call to Action

OKOBI represents a culturally embedded, scalable solution to Africa's economic challenges. This is in line with the German government's Policy Guidelines for Africa. By embracing this innovative model, German institutions can support sustainable development in Africa and help unlock the region's vast potential. This is an invitation to explore partnerships with OKOBI to promote sustainable entrepreneurship and inclusive economic growth in African regions. To leverage OKOBI's potential, we invite you to:

1. Assess its strategic fit with existing programs,
2. Fund research and pilot projects/businesses to test the rigour of this model,
3. Foster dialogue with African partners in this regard,
4. Develop capacity-building initiatives to support the implementation of the model,
5. Support in establishing impact measurement frameworks.