By Natalie Kolbe, General Partner at Norrsken22
With Africa’s median age sitting at 19, and likely to get younger, youth unemployment could become an issue for Africa. However, the burgeoning social commerce industry could alleviate the problem.
Africa has the highest youth population in the world. By 2050, the OECD predicts that the continent’s working age population will go from its current 849 million to 1.56 billion, representing 85% of the global workforce increase. Yet currently there aren’t the jobs available to fulfil the needs of this huge youth workforce. According to the Africa Development Bank Group, up to 12 million young people enter the African workforce each year, whilst only 3.1 million jobs are created at the moment.
Social commerce could be part of the solution. It is already unlocking opportunities for the tech-savvy youth of Africa, enabling them to sell consumer goods to a captive audience of buyers via social media. African retail is undergoing a shake-up, and this is providing meaningful jobs for a burgeoning youth population.
What’s unique about ‘social commerce’?
Social commerce is essentially an off-shoot of ecommerce, putting a face to businesses selling a wide range of products direct to consumers, via social media. Individuals and small businesses communicate to the audience in their community in a more personable and tailored manner, utilising their personal understanding of a consumers’ cultural context and language to adapt their promotional pitch to match a particular purchase need.
The reason that social commerce is particularly successful over traditional large-scale ecommerce operations like Amazon and Shein, is the tailored approach, which can only be leveraged by on-the-ground sellers with an understanding of the particular considerations for their market. For example, social sellers are able to build a climate of trust, which is particularly important in regions where buyers prefer to transact with individuals and entities they feel they know. This could be someone in their community, who speaks their particular language or dialect, and understands their needs and social context. Social selling is therefore able to bridge the gap between traditional selling and more recognisable forms of ecommerce.
Additionally, in-market players are much better at navigating the particular logistical considerations when selling in Africa. They can accept cash – which incoming US or Chinese ecommerce companies cannot, and they can troubleshoot deliveries much better. The reality of difficult road conditions can mean the difference between fulfilling an order and not, and social commerce is able to solve for local delivery needs. They can source local products from warehouses in Africa, in contrast to long-lead deliveries from factories in China, so the question of duties, distribution and timelines is something which social commerce in Africa already understands.
Job opportunities for Africa’s youth population
Social commerce has the opportunity to excel in Africa, in particular, due to the specific marketplace opportunity: its large and digitally connected youth population. With more than 400mn people aged 35 and under, Africa’s youthful population are tech natives, who have the social media skills necessary to become social sellers.
The unique challenges facing the African market also present an incredible opportunity for the growth of social commerce. While traditional job creation may not currently meet the pace of youth population growth, social media opens up new and accessible pathways to economic empowerment. With minimal barriers to entry, any young person with a phone can tap into social commerce, start selling, and generate their own income. As the population continues to grow, social commerce holds immense potential as a dynamic and inclusive route to self-employment, enabling young people to take charge of their economic futures.
And their audience is ready: African nations have some of the highest users of social media in the world. Kenya tops the global list for time spent on social media, and South Africa has the highest penetration of WhatsApp usage in the world. Social sellers can go to where their audience already spends their time, there is the scope to access a captive market.
Facilitating social commerce
Becoming a small business owner is fraught with risk. You need to buy stock, find a location from which to operate, and market your business to find your customers. However with social selling, there is a very low setup fee. As it is ecommerce-led, social sellers do not need to hold any stock, their ‘shopfront’ is digital, and all marketing takes place online. There are tech players already facilitating this form of selling.
For example, Norrsken22 recently invested in Cairo-based Taager, which is the leading social commerce player in Africa, offering a comprehensive end-to-end solution enabling African social sellers to launch and scale social commerce businesses across the MENA region. The platform takes care of the product sourcing, wholesaling, trend prediction, and overall customer experience – in particular streamlining the logistics of delivery, cash collection, and return.
On the tech front, AI and data analysis are creating high-demand jobs. Although these roles require education and training, young people can self-teach online and break into the industry, with no formal education or degree needed.
Commerce for future generations
Social selling works on a human level: building on the natural way humans have always traded, through trust and connection. Buyers are more likely to trust someone they recognise, who looks and talks like them, rather than faceless platforms like Temu or Shein.
This personal touch also helps reduce waste. Sellers provide hands-on support – not just out of goodwill, but because it’s tied to their commission. This direct troubleshooting drives down the likelihood of returns, unlike large corporations where impersonal service leads to costly returns. From a profit perspective, this brings down cost and reduces waste.
As Africa’s youth population grows, social commerce platforms are unlocking new routes to employment and entrepreneurship, while also creating exciting investable opportunities for venture capitalists.
