ENTREPRENEURSHIP FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA

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ENTREPRENEURSHIP FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

“The term globalisation is much abused and definitions have become too broad”

Rugman (2001, p.129) For UK Prime Minster Tony Blair (2002), globalisation is the greatest challenge to our age, so what is globalisation?

Ellwood (2001) defined globalisation as a new word that describes an old process: the integration of the global economy. Globalisation is more than just producing, marketing, and distributing goods and services throughout the world. It is a new way of thinking and the social processes in which the constraints of geography on social and cultural arrangements recede and people become increasingly aware that they are receding (Waters, 1995, p.3). For Held et al. (1999, p.6), globalisation is a process or set of processes that embodies a transformation in the spatial organisation of social relations and transactions (also see Wall and Rees, 2001, for more discussion on globalisation and international business).

The global competitive environment is changing dramatically. Instead of large companies dominating international markets, with smaller businesses remaining local or regional, many small firms today have to be globally competitive, whether they enter the global arena or not. One way for small-and medium-sized enterprises to increase their global competitiveness is to form cooperative relationships with larger multi-national enterprises. Such arrangements allow small firms to reach global markets, while allowing large firms to reduce costs through greater specialisation.

Many authors also argue that entrepreneurship is largely a phenomenon of developed, industrialised countries and that, if only it could be transferred together with western management practices, can we solve the problems of underdevelopment (Scott et al., 2000, p.227). Entrepreneurship has been seen as a key to economic development in many countries across the globe for many years (OECD, 1998, 2003; UN, 2004). For instance, in the European Union’s Employment Strategies, entrepreneurship has been given a major role to increase the dynamism of economies and help employment creation and improvement (CEC, 1999, 2003). The relationship between entrepreneurship and economic growth, poverty and sustainable development (SD) is crucial for future global development, policy and research. The European Union’s ‘Gothenburg strategy’, adopted in 2001, is based upon the three complementary economic, social, and environmental pillars, recognising the inter-dependence of these factors (CEC, 2005).

Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship play important roles in today’s global business environment. Even though entrepreneurship has been an important part of society for many years, there are still many different perceptions and misconceptions about it. Birley and Muzyka (2000) argue that downsizing, restructuring and technical change, notions of traditional careers, and ways of creating value have all been challenged and individuals are increasingly wondering whether they should strike out on their own, whether their fortune would be better realised through the pursuit of opportunities that they believe they can pursue. In effect, people are depending relatively more upon their own initiative to realise success than upon the system to deliver it to them.

This paper explores different viewpoints on entrepreneurship, management, and SD from around the world. The key objectives are to explain the different meanings of the term entrepreneurship, and its different perspectives and components in a global context and finally provide an overview of SD in relation to entrepreneurship. The next section considers ‘what is entrepreneurship?’ This is followed by Section 4, which considers ‘what is sustainable development?’ Section 5 sets out the conclusions in linking entrepreneurship and sustainable development.

Entrepreneurship is an elusive concept (McQuaid, 2002a). There are a number of perspectives of what is meant by the term ‘entrepreneurship’, some of which focus upon business development aspects, while others focus upon entrepreneurial behaviour – which may be linked to activities of those in the non-commercial sectors as well as commercial sectors. For instance, entrepreneurship is often considered synonymous with ‘new firms’ and/or existing ‘small, micro and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMMEs), and/or owner-managers or in some cases ‘dynamic’ or fast growing new firms. Elsewhere entrepreneurship is seen as: having specific functions in the economy, particularly in innovation and resource allocation with entrepreneurs seen, for instance, as innovators; or as a form of behaviour, concerned with the systematic grasping of opportunities; or as a set of personal characteristics, cognitive styles, attributes or motivations (such as risk taking or being a ‘great leader’) of entrepreneurs. Often the term entrepreneurship is used loosely, covering a number of meanings.

Differences in what is meant by entrepreneurship can often lead to confusion. Different perspectives on what the term means, have profoundly different policy and theoretical implications. This paper does not argue that one perspective or definition is correct or better than the others. Rather the paper seeks to clarify some of its different meanings, so that when entrepreneurship is discussed in theoretical or policy circumstances, we are clear about the differing underlying assumptions and concepts being used.

In the eighteenth century, the French term entrepreneur was first used by Richard Cantillon to describe a ‘go-between’ or a ‘between-taker’, whereby they bought goods at certain prices but sold at uncertain prices (as when they purchased the goods at a given price they could not be sure what price they would sell them for). So he or she bore the risk and uncertainty of a venture but kept the surplus after the contractual payments had been made. Later, the French philosopher, Jean-Baptiste Say and others widened the concept to include not only the bearing of risks, but also the planning, supervising, organising, and even owning the factors of production. The nineteenth century was a fertile time for entrepreneurial activity, as technological advances during the Industrial Revolution provided the impetus for continued inventions and innovations.

Statement of the problem

There may have been previous researches in this subject. This work gives further explanations and analysis in entrepreneurship for sustainable development in africa

Objectives of the study
To understand the impact of entrepreneurship on sustainable development in Africa
To understand the relationship between entrepreneurship andsustainable development in Africa
1. Research questions
What is the impact of entrepreneurship on sustainable development in Africa
What is the relationship between entrepreneurship and sustainable development in Africa