Young entrepreneurs in the mobile telephony sector in Ghana: From necessities to aspirations

Despite increasing research interest in the mobile telephony sector, only a few studies have devoted attention to informal businesses in the sector. Using qualitative field data collected on young mobile telephony entrepreneurs in Accra, this paper argues that despite the businesses being ‘informal’, they cannot be dismissed as ‘necessity’ enterprises unworthy of support. On the contrary, many young entrepreneurs have aspirations which are influencing their desire to stay in business. The article thus questions the bifurcated nature of entrepreneurial motivations, using the burgeoning mobile telephony sector as a case study, and draws out implications for policy support for youth-run businesses in the informal sector generally

Transitions to adulthood among young entrepreneurs in the informal mobile telephony sector in Accra, Ghana

The rapid expansion of the mobile telephony sector in African countries has been accompanied by the establishment of a wide range of informal support businesses, mostly run by young people. Little is known, however, about the lived experiences of young entrepreneurs working in this rapidly changing, technologically-driven sector. Drawing on qualitative research conducted in Accra, this paper explores young people's experiences of running informal businesses within the mobile telephony sector, including the sale of mobile phones and accessories, repair and technical support services, and the sale of airtime and mobile money services. Fateful and critical moments relating to personal and family events, as well as social networks and structural factors, are shown to mediate young entrepreneurs' chances of success in this new ‘niche' economic sub-sector. Despite the challenges they face, the paper illustrates how many of these young people have been able to achieve financial independence, afford rental accommodation, provide support for family members, and establish and sustain households. The mobile telephony sector is shown to be offering young people the opportunity to carve out a living, facilitate transitions into adulthood, and even enable some to move up the social ladder. By highlighting the agency of this group of young people, and for some their success in achieving the status of adulthood through their hard work and ingenuity, this study offers an important counter balance to images of young people in sub-Saharan Africa as being ‘stuck' or in ‘waithood'