Immigrant Pioneers

Since the late 1980s, an increasing number of foreigners have set themselves up in business in Germany, made themselves a livelihood and created jobs. However, only few people in Germany are aware of this.

It is the same old enduring stereotype: the guest worker who works hard for a couple of years in Germany and then uses the money earned to build a house in his native land. But this cliché from the 1960s and ‘70s has nothing to do with contemporary reality. Many foreigners in Germany are making a livelihood for themselves and setting themselves up in business. There are currently about 257,000 foreign entrepreneurs in Germany and the willingness to found a company is much greater among immigrants than it is among Germans.

Rezzo Schlauch, secretary of state in the Economics Ministry and member of the Green Party, laments the fact that hardly anyone is aware of this fact and that this potential goes undeveloped: ‘Many people focus on the fact that a lot of immigrants are unemployed and overlook the business initiative they show. The facts clearly prove that immigration has not only brought employees into the country, it has also brought entrepreneurs, investors, employers and instructors.’

Gastronomy and trade

Since the late 1980s, a growing number of immigrants have set themselves up in business, more so in the gastronomy and trade sectors than in the producing sector. According to Reinhold Stratmann from the Deutsche Ausgleichsbank, many of these businesses are very small companies with only two or three employees. Nevertheless, their economic importance should not be underestimated: ‘Figures show that the 10,000 kebab shops in Germany post a combined annual turnover of 2 billion euros. That’s more than McDonalds!’

For the Germans, it is a matter of course to go to their local Italian for a pizza and take their suits to a Turkish tailor for alteration. And yet, foreign entrepreneurs often face more obstacles with the authorities and banks than their German counterparts when they want to set themselves up in business. Rezzo Schlauch is critical of this state of affairs:
‘Foreign entrepreneurs generally have very little company capital andwhat makes the whole thing more criticalit is more difficult for them to access outside capital. This is why a large part of the funding comes from their relations. However, this money is not always sufficient and often results in the undercapitalization of the company.’

Creating better conditions

Together with state-owned development banks like the Deutsche Ausgleichsbank, the Federal Government now wants to make life easier for foreign entrepreneurs. According to Marieluise Beck, the Federal Government’s commissioner for foreigner issues, the attitude of society as a whole to foreigners is vital in this regard. And this attitude is often still too negative. ‘We can no longer accept that this part of our society is viewed and reacted to with such disdain and repulsion.’

Beck goes on to say that the better the integration of foreigners into society, the better they can exploit their entrepreneurial potential for the benefit of society as a whole and build bridges to foreign markets. Unfortunately, she says, this realisation is not sufficiently widespread in Germany.

Nina Werkhäuser, Deutsche Welle, June 2003