Facilitating entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa: what governments can do

Sriram, Ven; Mersha, Tigineh

doi:10.1504/jibed.2006.011956

Cited by 12 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…These recommendations are based on the literature drawn from a wide review of several African countries, work by international organizations such as the World Bank and the UN Economic Commission for Africa, as well as some primary research from two African countries. This paper updates and adds to policy recommendations made earlier (Sriram and Mersha, 2006) but we are cognizant of the dangers of considering "Africa as a whole, a single entity" (Nwankwo, 2011) and offering prescriptions for an entire continent based on the evidence from a few countries. Therefore, we recognize that the proposals made in this paper may need to be adapted to the special circumstances prevailing in each country on the continent.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…Building on earlier work (Sriram and Mersha, 2006) this paper outlined the crucial role that African governments can play to stimulate and nurture entrepreneurial endeavours in Africa. One of the important steps that African governments can take to boost the creation of new business ventures is to create a supportive business climate by reducing the costs and streamlining the complex procedures required to license and register new businesses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stimulating entrepreneurship in Africa

Sriram

Mersha

2010

World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable D

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Entrepreneurship is lauded as an engine of economic development and job creation, with SMEs often creating most of the new jobs in many countries. This paper identifies some important factors that contribute to the start-up and success of new business ventures in Africa, emphasizing that while personality factors such individual drive and competency and availability of resources are important for the successful launch of a new business venture, effective government policy is also critical in promoting successful entrepreneurial initiatives. Survey data collected showed that most African entrepreneurs believe that they have the requisite passion, energy, and determination needed to start and manage new businesses. However, they are constrained by scarcity of adequate start-up capital, stiff competition, lack of employees with the right skills, and difficulty in finding adequate facilities to start their business. Building on this research and earlier work, the paper discusses the crucial role that African governments can play to stimulate and nurture entrepreneurial endeavours. While the findings and recommendations in this paper are based on the study of Ethiopian and Ghanaian entrepreneurs, they have applicability in several African countries. The actual implementation of the proposed recommendations will of course need to be adapted to suit the special circumstances prevailing in each country.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stimulating entrepreneurship in Africa

Sriram

Mersha

2010

World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable D

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“…Netswera (2001) argued that the rapid growth of the economies of the South-East Asian countries was due to the systematic external support services that the governments provided to the small businesses in those countries. Accordingly, Sriram and Tigineh (2006) take a very typical view of African entrepreneurship development, insisting that governments should stimulate enterprise by intervening to create friendlier entrepreneurship policies. Thus it seems that the lack of entrepreneurship in Africa is broadly attributed to both structural and personal characteristics.…”

Section: African Enterprise and Local Culturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enterprise as socially situated in a rural poor fishing community

Anderson

Obeng

2017

Journal of Rural Studies

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We examine enterprise processes in a poor rural fishing village in Ghana, having become interested in why poverty persists in spite of considerable industry. Our case study uses the village as the unit for analysis because it offered a conceptually interesting place that is relatively economically, socially and spatially isolated. Most entrepreneurship theory failed to explain our observations about the absence of development. Accordingly, our socialised perspective looked at the social and spatial processes that configured enterprise. Our study, over ten years, allowed us to recognise that fishing and the associated processing and sales had developed as socially organised to enable a livelihood for many, rather than entrepreneurial benefits for a few. The socially situated nature of rural enterprise in Ocansey Kope is "mutual" and interdependent, and not individualistic in the western sense. Enterprise is individually enacted; but how business is conducted is hedged by social obligations, responsibilities and entitlements. The apparently economic "systems" of production, the buying and selling, lending and borrowing within the village can also be understood, and better explained, as social processes.

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“…This is in marked contrast to the immediate post-independence emphasis within many African nations, when policies for large firms and national champions were the order of the day. Encouraging the birth and development of small firms is now perceived as a mechanism for creating employment (or reducing unemployment), as a means of alleviating poverty and a route to sustainable economic growth (Sriram and Mersha 2006). It's not clear, however, that sub-Saharan African economies have difficulties in starting businesses.…”

Section: Ghanamentioning

confidence: 99%

Small firm exporters in a developing economy context: evidence from Ghana

Robson

Freel

2008

Entrepreneurship & Regional Development

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A cursory review of the industrial policies of most nations suggests that exporting matters. Identifying exporting firms and facilitating their endeavours (or encouraging others to emulate them) are familiar policy themes, and studies of the relationship between firm characteristics and the propensity to export are common in the academic literature. Yet, the context for the bulk of these studies is provided by developed economies. To the extent that international trade relies upon specialisation and that broad differences exist in the patterns of specialisation between developed and developing economies, one wonders how well findings may be generalised to a developing context. Drawing upon firm-level data from a recent survey of small enterprises in Ghana (n = 500), the current study is concerned with identifying the characteristics of exporters in the three main non-governmental sectors of the Ghanaian economy (manufacturing, services and agriculture). Our interest is in Ghanaian economic development imperatives and in the extent of congruence between the findings of this study and previous developed economy studies

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Facilitating entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa: what governments can do

Cited by 12 publications

References 9 publications

Stimulating entrepreneurship in Africa

Stimulating entrepreneurship in Africa

Enterprise as socially situated in a rural poor fishing community

Small firm exporters in a developing economy context: evidence from Ghana

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