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SME's - can entrepreneurialism survive in Africa
| Guest post by: Dr. Rob Smorfitt |
Article Overview: An overview to see whether entrepreneurialism can survive in Africa
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Free Download - SMEs – SMEs struggling in South Africa. Why? By Dr. Rob Smorfitt |
SME's - can entrepreneurialism survive in Africa
Mbeki and the AU continue to cry out about African solutions for African countries. Is ther any validity in this approach. Let us look at some background.
If we consider Europe, UK, China and Japan, in real terms it was not that long ago that these countries were monarchy based feudal systems. I am not knowledgable in this area, but somewhre along the line something happened which changed the status quo, and which created the opportunity for the peasants to improve their lot. Land ownership shifted from the feudal barons, church and the monarchy to the peasants. Previously they had to pay taxes on their crops to the feudal lord, but now they paid to the state. And slowly but surely they became more and more entrepreneurial.
Now correct me if I am wrong, but Africa is no different, other than that they are further back on the time scale. So surely Africa can read between the lines and leapfrog a few hundred years of suffering and get in step with the rest of the world who have already done so?
Why can Africa not shift land ownership from traditional leaders to the citizens of the country? Why can Africa not shift land ownership from governments to the citizens of the country?
Why can Africa not redefine the roles of their traditional leaders and bring the in line with the future direcion of the country?
I think the AU and Mbeki have missed the point. The future direction is similar for all countries in the world. While modern developed country solutions may not be applicable to Africa now, they soon could be if the leaders in Africa made the effort to take some bold steps and leapfrog the past.
Rob Smorfitt
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Article Tags: Africa, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, government intervention, SME, SMME, Smorfitt
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About the Author: Dr. Rob Smorfitt RSS for Dr. Rob's articles - Visit Dr. Rob's website Have an MBA and a PhD in entrepreneurship. Three key areas of ongoing research are entrepreneurship and innovation in large business strategy, the impact of legislation on SME development and SME finance. Run my own SME blog at http://sme-smb-smme.blogspot.com as well as an entrepreneurship and innovation for large businesses blog at http://innoveur.blogspot.com I have been self-employed since 1982. I have started or purchased in excess of 50 businesses since then. Most were sold again and a few were shut down because of a lack of profitability. Many were run by staff or family while I worked full time in my bigger businesses. Author of 6 books. Written articles for various magazines, newspapers and websites. Experienced in research within developing countries.
Click here to visit Dr. Rob's website  
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Related Forum Posts
Re: In-House or Outsource?
- Unfortunately, in the South African context, very few SMEs see outsourcing as an option. They believe it is too expensive, and they are paranoid that someone will "steal their ideas".
I believe that the three main functions that cannot be outsourced are marketing, sales and strategy. These must be done in house I believe. If you do not have the marketing skills then get them. Hire a consultant or attend a course, but get the skills. Even if you use a consultant, you need to understand what marketing is about, as no one knows your market like you do. Marketing is made to seem difficult and complex, but everyone who really understands their markets, can easily learn to do their own marketing.
In South Africa, labour legislation is extremely inflexibile, and consequently labour broking is a large industry. This is an ideal starting point for SMEs in South Africa, as it is a legally complex area, whih comes with severe penalties.
I say do it!
Rob Smorfitt
Re: need advice
- Africa is a pretty big place I think it is a question of where in Africa you would like to open a call centre. South Africa for example actually has plenty of call centres already operating, so it would very much depend on what part of Africa you are considering.
MichelleJ
Re: Newbie from Africa
- Hello Biiyke
Welcome to the forum. Which part of Africa are you from it is quite a big continent? I live in South Africa.
MichelleJ
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Re: Newbie from Africa
- [quote="Evan":22gvtxlq]Welcome to the forums Biiyke!
You asked if we know any sellers who were trying to reach the African market... I think you'd honestly have more luck going the other way - try to find sellers in Africa and sell to the rest of the world.[/quote:22gvtxlq]
Hello Evan,
You are absolutely correct.Thank you for your advice.That's actually the whole idea,Africa to the world and the world to Africa. So I will throw more weight on that area.
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