Skip to main content

State of Entrepreneurship in Southern Africa

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurship
  • 7 Accesses

Abstract

Entrepreneurship, without a doubt, plays a crucial role in any nation’s socioeconomic development. However, the benefits accruable from it are dwarfed by the lack of appropriate support structures and procedures, particularly outdated infrastructure and regulatory impediments that impede business formalization. These two variables are to blame for South Africa’s fragile condition of entrepreneurship. These elements, curiously, present a mix of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, which are highlighted in this paper.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Asitik, A. J., Sharpley, R., & Phelan, C. (2016). Establishing the link between entrepreneurship, built capital, and poverty reduction in rural northern Ghana. International Journal of Arts & Sciences, 9(2), 493–508.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ateba, B. B., Prinsloo, J. J., & Gawlik, R. (2019). The significance of electricity supply sustainability to industrial growth in South Africa. Energy Reports, 5(1), 1324–1338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bloomberg. (2013). The top 20 emerging markets. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/photo-essays/2013-01-31/the-top-20-emerging-markets. Accessed 28 Apr 2022.

  • Development Bank of Southern Africa. (1998). Infrastructure: A foundation for development (Development Report 1998). DBSA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewa, M. T., Van Der Merwe, A. F., & Matope, S. (2020). Production scheduling heuristics for frequent load-shedding scenarios: A knowledge engineering approach. South African Journal of Industrial Engineering, 31(3), 110–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Familoni, K. A. (2006). The role of economic and social infrastructure in economic development: A global view. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 6(4), 11–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geldenhuys, K. (2020). Crime in the SA rail environment-a national disaster? Servamus Community-based Safety and Security Magazine, 113(1), 22–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). (2019/2020). South Africa’s Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report. https://www.usb.ac.za/usb_news/entrepreneurship-report-reveals-how-startups-can-drive-growth-in-a-disrupted-world/#:~:text=In%202019%2C%20South%20Africa%20ranked,trend%20from%202003%20to%202019. Accessed 27 Apr 2022.

  • Goldberg, A. (2015). The economic impact of load shedding: The case of South African retailers (Doctoral dissertation, University of Pretoria).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gramlich, E. (1994). Infrastructure investment: A review essay. Journal of Economic Literature, XXXII, 1176–1196.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gwija, S. A., Eresia-Eke, C., & Iwu, C. G. (2014). Assessing the impact of support structures and initiatives to youth entrepreneurship development in a selected Township in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(1), 61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herrington, M., & Coduras, A. (2019). The national entrepreneurship framework conditions in sub-Saharan Africa: A comparative study of GEM data/National Expert Surveys for South Africa, Angola, Mozambique, and Madagascar. Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, 9(1), 60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heyns, G. J., & Luke, R. (2018). Rail commuter service quality in South Africa: Results from a longitudinal study. 37th annual Southern African Transport Conference (SATC 2018), proceedings. ISBN Number: 978-1-920017-89-7.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Labour Organisation (ILO). (2014). Transitioning from the informal to the formal economy. Report, V(1), International Labour Conference, 103rd session 2014. ILO.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Labour Organisation (ILO). (2015). Recommendation concerning the transition from the informal to the formal economy. Recommendation 204. International Labour Conference. ILO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Iwu, C. G. (2018). The sustainability of small or medium enterprises growth in emerging markets. In Proceedings of the international conference on business and management dynamics (ICBMD) (pp. 213–221).

    Google Scholar 

  • Iwu, C. G. (2021). COVID-19 lessons for mitigation and future SME prospects. In Handbook of research on strategies and interventions to mitigate COVID-19 impact on SMEs (pp. 74–100). IGI Global.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kemausuor, F., Adaramola, M. S., & Morken, J. (2018). A review of commercial biogas systems and lessons for Africa. Energies, 11(11), 2984.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khoase, R. G., Derera, E., McArthur, B., & Ndayizigamiye, P. (2020). Barriers to start-up and sustainable growth of SMMEs: A comparative study between South Africa and Lesotho. African Journal of Business and Economic Research, 15(2), 137–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kibuuka, P., & Tustin, D. (2019). The key triggers for the transitioning of informal SMMEs to formal SMMEs: A baseline survey of the Gauteng Province, South Africa. Psychology Research, 9(1), 32–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumari, A., & Sharma, A. K. (2017). Physical & social infrastructure in India & its relationship with economic development. World Development Perspectives, 5, 30–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lose, T., & Mapuranga, M. (2022). Antecedents that inhibit the performance of business incubators in South Africa. Academy of Entrepreneurship Journal, 28, 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Makhathini, M. S., Mlambo, V. H., & Mpanza, S. (2020). Infrastructure provision as a catalyst for local economic development in South Africa. Strategic Review for Southern Africa, 42(1), 97–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maloka, C. M., & Dlamini, M. (2016). Challenges facing government agencies in providing non-financial support to SMMEs in the upper end market. SAAPAM Limpopo 5th annual conference.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mazzarol, T. (2014). 6 Ways governments can encourage entrepreneurship. World Economic Forum. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2014/12/6-ways-governments-can-encourage-entrepreneurship/. Accessed 30 Apr 2022.

  • Muñoz, P., Naudé, W., Williams, N., Williams, T., & Frías, R. (2020). Reorienting entrepreneurial support infrastructure to tackle a social crisis: A rapid response. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 14, e00181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nieuwenhuizen, C. (2019). The effect of regulations and legislation on small, micro, and medium enterprises in South Africa. Development Southern Africa, 36(5), 666–677.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nugraha, A. T., Prayitno, G., Situmorang, M. E., & Nasution, A. (2020). The role of infrastructure in economic grouth and income inequality in Indonesia. Economics & Sociology, 13(1), 102–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olomi, D., Charles, G., & Juma, N. (2018). An inclusive approach to regulating the second economy: A tale of four Sub-Saharan African economies. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, 10(3), 447–471.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steenkamp, H., February, A., September, J., Taylor, A., Hollis-Turner, S., & Bruwer, J. P. (2016). The influence of load shedding on the productivity of hotel staff in Cape Town, South Africa. Expert Journal of Business and Management, 4(2), 69–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swingler, H. (2020). Trains least safe public transport for women. Available online at: https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2020-02-26-trains-least-safe-public-transport-for-women. Accessed 27 Apr 2022.

  • Tachiwou, A. M., & Hamadou, O. (2011). Infrastructure development and economic growth in Togo. International Journal of Economics and Finance, 3(3), 131–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tatano, H., Homma, T., Okada, N., & Tsuchiya, S. (2004). Economic restoration after a catastrophic event: heterogeneous damage to infrastructure and capital and its effects on economic growth. Journal of natural disaster science, 26(2), 81–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Democratic Alliance. (2015). Cutting red tape for small business still only at ‘guidelines’ stage. Available from https://www.da.org.za/2015/05/cutting-red-tape-for-small-business-still-only-at-guidelines-stage/. Accessed 30 Apr 2022.

  • Wakefield, H. I., Yu, D., & Swanepoel, C. (2022). Revisiting transitory and chronic unemployment in South Africa. Development Southern Africa, 39(2), 87–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zincume, P. N., Ryan, T., & Shaw, C. (2018). The reliability of commuter rail service in the City of Cape Town: A grounded theory approach for identifying the factors affecting the provision of a reliable commuter rail service. In SAIIE29 proceedings, 24th – 26th of October 2018, Spier, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chux Gervase Iwu .

Section Editor information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Iwu, C.G. (2023). State of Entrepreneurship in Southern Africa. In: The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurship. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68128-9_3-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68128-9_3-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-68128-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-68128-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Business and ManagementReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics