The Problem of African Entrepreneurial Development

Abstract

Future reductions in poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa will have to come from a significant expansion in private sector activity and substantial improvements in productivity. The capacity of the sector to bring about such changes will depend importantly on the ability of entrepreneurs to develop more effective business strategies, make profitable investments, and improve technologies in use. Unfortunately, as the development literature has so often pointed out, differences in the availability of entrepreneurial talent (both technical and managerial) and differences in the motivational mechanisms that drive entrepreneurs have been important causes of Africa's relative stagnation, compared with other parts of the developing world. So where will the necessary entrepreneurial talent come from in Africa? What types of changes in motivational mechanisms and capacities will be needed to increase its effectiveness?