Migration
Migration and Entrepreneurship: Pathways to Labor Inclusion
¿How to promote entrepreneurship between people in context of mobility? His was the key question that guided our forum Migrate and Entrepreneur organised in conjunction with Impact Hub CDMX. Gathering civil society organisations that promote the rights of people in mobility with the Impact Hub’s network in cities such as New York, Houston, San Salvador, Antigua, San José, Medellín and Caracas. The forum sought to define actions that each organisation can take to facilitate the path of entrepreneurship of migrants. To accomplish this, it was necessary to make an analysis of their necessities, opportunities and obstacles that they face depending on the destination country.
The efforts in Latin-America for the economic integration of migrants have focused on employment programs for refugees and asylum solicitors in private sector companies. For example, UNHCR has a successful program in Mexico. However, facilitating the path to entrepreneurship is fundamental as it is a way to promote social mobility, formality in the economy, as well as it promotes a larger employability not only for refugees and asylum seekers but for to all migrants. In Germany, according to the study “Migrant Founders Monitor 2022” conducted by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and Startup Verband in Germany, 22% of the founders of startups come from migrant backgrounds, of which 59% are first generation migrants, i.e. they were not born in Germany. However, like in Latin-American and the USA, the founder of startups that come from migrant backgrounds have also faced problems of racism and xenophobia by authorities and access to banking. In addition, in Germany they also face problems of financing and growth for their companies: 43% experience problems of access to capital.
Thus, thru the different experiences in Germany, Latin America and the USA we can note the similarities between the difficulties for people in context of mobility to create an enterprise. However, entrepreneurship, when seen as a tool of economic development creates big interests between migrants, and by denoting local economy, it should also create a greater interest from the governments of the destination countries.
Entrepreneurship as Individual Freedom
Entrepreneurship is an example of individual freedom in practice as people can generate their own livelihoods. Therefore, in the “Migration and Entrepreneurship” forum, experts in entrepreneurship and human rights understood the situation and context of migrants depending on the region where they are located and their country of origin. The historical, political and social context of each of these areas makes it possible to think of unique actions for each of them. However, when creating entrepreneurship programs or public policies based on the user as a person, it is possible to design them in a general way regardless of nationality. An empathy map allows designing practical solutions based on the person considering their fears and lifestyle.
Thinking about the concrete strategies that can be implemented to bring migrants closer to entrepreneurship, first leads to think about who can be helped. For this purpose, archetypes were developed through stratification and the identification of specific characteristics. This way, the groups of migrants who can undertake entrepreneurship were recognised. Through the identification of similarities and differences in migration flows as well as the legal, political and economic particularities of the countries, it was possible to create a particular profile for each region. The objective of this is to ensure that policies and actions reach the people who need them and that they are effective. Some of the characteristics identified as necessary for migrants to be able to become entrepreneurs are, for example, coverage of their basic needs, that their migratory status allows them to do so, and that they already have a foot inside the legal system.
What does a person in a mobility context need to become an entrepreneur?
This question is critical to think about any policy or support program. The answers to this question are endless, but some examples identified are access to legal and banking services, access to support organizations, access to immediate sources of income, and support from networks such as the diaspora itself. It is important for people to have the technical information as well as the legal requirements and seed capital to be able to start their journey towards entrepreneurship. In countries such as Mexico, civil society organizations and international organizations are the ones who provide support programs for people to become entrepreneurs by offering a small amount of seed capital. However, it will be important that in the future the entrepreneurial ecosystem can also begin to address this population within their programs to accelerate them.
One of the problems mentioned throughout the event was the lack of access to information by migrants. How to provide them with information about entrepreneurship opportunities? How to bring support closer to them? This is one of the great areas of opportunity that organizations can work on. There is a gap between entrepreneurship programs and the people who want to become entrepreneurs; organizations can create programs that function as bridges to bring them closer.
A complement to the dissemination of information is the creation of support networks, since it is through them that migrant entrepreneurship can be made visible, and the necessary connections can be made to be able to do so. Through these networks, it is possible to listen to those migrants who are looking for entrepreneurship or to those who have already done so. It is essential that other migrant entrepreneurs share their experiences, so that they can support and learn from each other. Linking ventures, entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs is of utmost importance to create support networks to build community and networking.
The participants contributed their knowledge and experience in the field and, together with migrants who have are entrepreneurs, created realistic action plans that each of the organizations can carry out. The participation of entrepreneurs who are also migrants was highly enriching as it helped to understand the problems they face. Listening to personal experiences gives visibility to what is working as well as to know what more can be done. The participation of migrant entrepreneurs made visible the need for connections among them so that they can learn from their mistakes and successes and to make their path to entrepreneurship easier.
Here you can watch an enterview with experts in the subject: