Historical evolution of entrepreneurial development in the global South: The case of Ghana, 1957–2010

Abstract

In spite of growing awareness among strategy, business history and entrepreneurship scholars of the benefits of entrepreneurial development, our understanding of the evolution of entrepreneurial development in developing nations remains limited. A historical analysis of the issue in postcolonial Ghana from 1957 to 2010 led to the identification of three distinctive phases. The first phase represented the immediate post-colonial reforms (1957-1966), where large-scale nationalisation and establishment of state-owned enterprises hampered development of private enterprises. The second phase was the turbulent period (1967-1979), where totalitarianism and confiscation of assets deterred private investments and ownership, thereby creating a harsh economic and institutional environment. These culminated in the last phase, the renaissance of social entrepreneurship (1980-2010) where different entrepreneurial models flourished, including the diaspora philanthropy and the "philanthropic chief".

Sustainable Entrepreneurship as a Field of Knowledge: Analyzing the Global South

“…This approach to sustainability may favorably influence people and communities around the world by including the preservation of nature, life, and the generation of economic and non-economic gains, which promotes society's welfare [3]. However, as Amankwah-Amoah and Lu [10] asserted, little is known about sustainable entrepreneurship in the Global South, which is a region that is equally important to the Global North in order to achieve a more sustainable world [19]. The results of this research allow us to assert that the scholarly production of sustainable entrepreneurship has been more focused in the Northern countries, despite it being a global matter.…”

“…In sum, entrepreneurship research demands contextualization more than other fields of knowledge, not only because of its diversity, but also because of its broadness, its scope, and its approach [7]. Thus, despite the growing interest and awareness among entrepreneurship scholars about the benefits of sustainable entrepreneurial development, the understanding of how this tendency has been developed in the Global South is still limited, as well as to what extent the Global South has contributed to sustainability [10]. This research started from the premise that the research on sustainable entrepreneurship as a field of knowledge has been developed mainly by the Global North, which is to say, developed countries.…”