Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship

Africa is arguably the richest continent in terms of minerals and natural resources. Prior research has also shown that Africa has an abundance of entrepreneurs who possess the ability to identify business opportunities and exploit them. However, the continent's entrepreneurial performance has been weak. Our goal in this paper is modest and is simply aimed at identifying and synthesizing the available evidence on economic and institutional factors affecting entrepreneurship in Africa. This paper also reviews various mechanisms by which foreign businesses are exploiting Africa for resources and market and examines Western response to the low level of entrepreneurial activities in Africa. Finally, this paper provides case studies of some successful entrepreneurial activities in the continent. The cases indicate that successful businesses do not necessarily need to depend on natural resources.

Women entrepreneurship in the informal sector, such as street food vending, is important for poverty alleviation in West Africa. The street food sector provides employment for women and inexpensive and nutritious food for the urban poor. In this paper, we determine the importance of the cowpea street food sector, evaluate the determinants of successful enterprises and ascertain the impact of economic, cultural, religious and geographic differentials between enterprises in Niamey, Niger and Kumasi, Ghana. Data were collected through in-person interviews with 114 and 122 women street food entrepreneurs in both countries in 2009. Results revealed that women entrepreneurs engaged in the cowpea street food sector can earn incomes 4 times and 16 times higher than the minimum legal wage in Niamey and Kumasi, respectively. Incomes earned from these entrepreneurial activities contribute directly to health, education and needs of their families. OLS regression results indicate that lack of financial resources, stable business locations and religious beliefs are important entrepreneurial success factors. Cross-country comparisons revealed enterprises in Kumasi are larger and more successful than those in Niamey.

This paper analyzes entrepreneurs in South Africa's informal sector. The aim is to determine the extent to which African informal retail trade spawns viable enterprises. To assess the prospects for South Africa's informal retail sector, we obtained questionnaires from owners of small-scale establishments in a random sample taken throughout the country in 2007. Owner's income and sales data provided a basis for investigating viability. Regression analysis tests hypotheses identified as crucial to higher income and sales, including startup capital, size, male/female ownership, business training and the proximity to shopping centers. Also tested is the influence of urbanization externalities on sales and owner's income. Initial capital and positive urban externalities have a strong influence on the ability to generate a sustainable livelihood for informal entrepreneurs. After controlling for startup capital, location and other factors, it appears women entrepreneurs face distinct difficulties in generating a viable income through informal retail trade.

In the last decade or so, there has been a growing interest in an area researchers are calling social entrepreneurship, a movement spearheaded by individuals with a desire to make the world a better place. This paper describes the structure and process of international development in Africa from the perspective of a social entrepreneur. The authors address the opportunities and challenges faced by social entrepreneurs as they attempt to affect large-scale social change. The result of this study is a unique development model that provides tools for the social entrepreneur to address problems and build capacity and sustainability within the African context.

The business strategy perspective argues that achieving competitive advantage hinges on pursing a coherent competitive strategy. Family businesses are also said to manifest a strong desire to develop enduring and committed social relationships with external stakeholders. This study examines the effect of business strategy on performance of family businesses and how their managerial social networking relationships with external entities moderate the business strategy–performance link. Using data from 54 family firms from Ghana, the findings indicate that: (1) the pursuit of the business strategies of cost leadership and differentiation create competitive advantage for family businesses; (2) social networking relationships with government bureaucratic officials and community leaders are beneficial to family businesses, but social networking relationships with political leaders is detrimental to family businesses; and (3) the benefit of business strategy to family businesses is moderated positively by networking with community leaders, but negatively by networking with political leaders.

This paper reports results of a longitudinal quasi-experimental study that focused on the impact of entrepreneurial education and societal subjective norms on entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions of university students in Uganda to start a business. Data were collected in two waves: wave one before the entrepreneurship course and wave two after the entrepreneurship course — four months later. The sample composed of college students. Analyses included tests of significance of changes in the attitudes and intentions of students after the entrepreneurship course, the mediating role of attitudes and moderating role of employment expectations. The results show small but significant changes in attitudes and a significant mediating role of attitudes — perceived feasibility, perceived desirability and self-efficacy, but non-significant moderating influence of employment expectations. The findings offer lessons for policy makers and more questions for researchers.

This paper presents findings from a pilot study of four African entrepreneurs new to established, all who started their business as young people. Their narratives, enhanced by the inclusion of significant events derived by the use of the critical incident technique, provide useful oral insights into their entrepreneurial heuristics and behavior. These reveal key influences and critical issues that affect the young African's decision to start a business and also perspectives into the nature of entrepreneurship in Africa. This paper concludes that the dichotomy between push and pull entrepreneurship is oversimplified, and social structures such as class, education and family background impact on ideas, opportunities, resources, skills and motivation. But most importantly, entrepreneurship can survive in an environment with many constraints, because career choices are influenced by the youth entrepreneur's perception, decision-making abilities and experiences. Implications are drawn for the development of young entrepreneurs in Africa.