Discourses of Poor Work Ethic in Botswana: A Historical Perspective, 1930–2010

Makgala, Christian John

doi:10.1080/03057070.2013.767534

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…The trend suggests that majority of the SMMEs in the manufacturing sector are microenterprises, followed by small enterprises and finally medium enterprises. Most entrepreneurs tend to run businesses for survival and a few of the micro-enterprises survive to grow into small businesses, let alone medium enterprises (Makgala 2013). The trend agrees with the Republic of Botswana (2012), which shows results of the 1998 SMME Policy with more micro-enterprises followed by small enterprises and finally medium enterprises.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 75%

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Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Business and Finance

Matsoso

Twum-Darko

2015

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 75%

“…Correct use of factors of production and a good entrepreneurial culture increases the chances for business growth which result in high employment creation. Botswana currently has a reputation of poor work ethic which works against entrepreneurial success (Makgala 2013).…”

Section: Theoretical Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Business and Finance

Matsoso

Twum-Darko

2015

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“…Unfortunately, the results have been lukewarm. 60 Poor work ethic and lax attitude towards punctuality in Botswana is often couched in the infamous and nonchalant phrase "There is no hurry in Botswana". 61 Other factors that contribute to unimpressive FDI in Botswana are the country's small internal market of just two million people, difficult and convoluted regime of issuing resident and work permits to expatriates.…”

Section: Concerns About African Time In Post-colonial Botswana 1966-2011mentioning

confidence: 99%

“There is no hurry in Botswana”: Scholarship and stereotypes on “African time” syndrome in Botswana, 1895- 2011"

Makgala

Thebe

2015

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The lack of a strict and disciplined adherence to keeping time or punctuality has been an issue of major concern to many authorities in the African public and private sectors. Botswana is no exception, as this article will demonstrate. So pervasive is lack of punctuality among Africans in sub-Saharan Africa that a stereotypical notion of “African time” gained currency a long time ago and is still prevalent to this day. Undoubtedly, this attitude towards time negatively affects the productivity and economic performance of numerous African countries, such as Botswana, in their seemingly futile endeavour to become competitive globally and attract the much sought after foreign direct investment (FDI). In this article we try to make sense of African time from the scholarship on the African traditional socio-economic and environmental factors relating to time, as well as the popular stereotypical views of African time. This article shows that African time among the Batswana is something that frustrated the Victorian missionaries in the late nineteenth century. We also discuss how African time has translated into expression of political power by tribal and national political leaders. The problem of African time continues to be prevalent in the twenty-first century Botswana where a poor work ethic is also believed to be a major impediment to doing business in the country.

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“…The idea of the indigenous 'lazy by definition' was an integral part of the racist assumptions which were widespread in colonial contexts (cfr. Alatas 1977;Atkins 1993;Makgala 2013). The first accounts of missionaries 7 who described Ewe as industrious farmers, involved in the cultivation of cassava, maize, yam and palm, 8 were quickly forgotten by colonial administrators, who needed to boost cash crops production (particularly cotton) in order to make the colonial conquest profitable.…”

Section: The Ambiguous Ethos Of Colonial and Postcolonial Agrarian Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Where does fortune come from? Agrarian work ethics and luck in Togo

Gardini

2015

Critical African Studies

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Through the analysis of the biographical trajectories of three Togolese men of different generations, this paper explores the changing and ambiguous relation between notions of fortune and agricultural work in south-western Togo. Comparing their different work ethics, I will discuss which factors people of different generations and different economic conditions considered legitimate in enhancing individual success and fortune, the ambiguous moral discourses that historically have imbued agricultural activities, and their relations with other forms of accumulation more or less connected with the use or abuse of occult means. I would suggest that, far from being one the opposite of the other, work ethics and notions of fortune become part of the same moral discourse that people elaborate in order to legitimize (or delegitimize) given forms of accumulation and to make sense of new and old inequalities.

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Discourses of Poor Work Ethic in Botswana: A Historical Perspective, 1930–2010

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Business and Finance

Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Business and Finance

“There is no hurry in Botswana”: Scholarship and stereotypes on “African time” syndrome in Botswana, 1895- 2011"

Where does fortune come from? Agrarian work ethics and luck in Togo

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