Tweet

SMEs - entrepreneurship in a true democracy

Guest post by: Dr. Rob Smorfitt

Article Overview: A look at the impact of a true democratic environment on entrepreneruship

SMEs - entrepreneurship in a true democracy

Africa continuously claims that it must be treated differently to the rest of the world. They claim that the situation is a lot more complex in Africa and therefore the "standard form of democracy" does not work. How much truth is their in this claim, or is it simply an excuse.

African countries are full of different tribes, and they often claim that the colonial Europeans caused the problem by creating new countries across tribal boundaries. I cannot argue either way on this topic, but let us look at another example to see if the claims hold true.

Let us look at the USA. It is quite possible that citizens of every country in the world are now living in the USA. Having travelled the USA, the one thing that is interesting, is that the citizens always identify themselves as Americans. Its citizens are first and foremost Americans. everywhere you look you see the national USA symbols such as the flag.

Not in Africa. Look at South Africa for example. Mandela saw the need for a central identity and created the Rainbow Nation. I think he was correctly motivated but poorly informed by his marketing people. He should have called them South Africans. But today we still have the Zulus who think they should run the country, but this is hotly contested by the Xhosas who think it is their right to do so. Newspapers unfortunately reinforce this thinking in their reporting, with direct tribal references often arising. Whites are also not South Africans. They are English, Afrikaans, Greek Portuguese, whatever, but never South Africans.Zuma recently tried to show that Afrikaans whites are better than English whites as citizens. What a crock!

The situation is the same throughout Africa. There is no African country that I am aware of where the citizens claim to be citizens of the country, rather than members of a tribe. Hutu, Tutsi, Batswana, Shangaan, never Kenyan for example.

The USA has created the biggest tribe, and embrace their diversity, thereby freeing themselves up to focus on entrepreneurial issues. Their legislation is never intended to bias or protect things for a particular group. It is intended to merely stimulate the masses, and not the different tribes. (Yes Affirmative action was instituted in the USA, but merely to rectify previous wrongs.)

It is time Africa learnt this important lesson. The USA is reputed to have approximately 40% of its citizens involved in some or other entrepreneurial activity, as opposed to the African figure which is generally around 5% at best.

We need to create clear national identity and pride, and get rid of these tribal identities that add no value in the modern world.

Then our economies can be set free to blossom

Dr Rob Smorfitt

Related Articles
  18.0 Conclusion: Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in Africa
  5.2.1 The MIT-SME section: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005
  SMEs - surviving the recession in Africa
  Leverage Subject Matter Experts
  Restricted Access to Finance

Article Tags: belonging, culture, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, nationalism, SME, SMME, Smorfitt, tribe



Related Forum Posts
Re: Want a better forum? Invite your friends! - I absolutely agree, GT. I'm going to do my part and spread the word about the Forums to attract people who have a true, vested interest in entrepreneurship and have value to add. Thanks for bringing this issue to light so that others are aware and can take action to do the same.
Re: Businesswomen in the news - Hey hey hey....Calm down. What you are forgetting and the press isnt taking into consideration the rise of entrepreneurship. Women arent leaving the workforce, they are starting their own workforces... A few years ago I was president of the Canadian Association of Women Executives. I got a call from Global National who wanted a comment on the fact that women were leaving corporate Canada in droves....and what did I think about it......was it the glass ceiling etc.. Well, its because women are flocking to entrepreneurship but ladies, that doesnt make the news. the media is looking for information that will prove their 'the economy is in a slump'.... It simply isnt true. There are more women starting and running their own businesses than we've ever seen. Dont forget that the media is out for the media and scare tactics and bad news gets the coverage.... J
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
What do you do to give back? - I'm launching new section of the site for social entrepreneurship and our first category is going to be called African Accounts. The goal with the project is to raise awareness of African entrepreneurs and showcase that entrepreneurship can be the path to achieving sustainable development. This has always been a passion of mine and I have done a number of talks around the world on this subject so I'm excited to bring it online as well. We have recruited some of the top bloggers in the world who focus on African entrepreneurship and are preparing additional resources. I believe that a big part of running a business is being socially responsible and giving back - even if it's donating your time to an organization or small amounts of money or products. You don't have to be mega-successful to make a difference. What are some of the things you are doing to give back to the community around you?
Hi Everyone! Looking for great mathy entrepreneurship books - I'm a young entrepreneur who's primarily interested in sustainable technology. As an engineer, I'm also fascinated with the math and statistics behind entrepreneurship. We all hear the scary numbers about how many companies last 5 years, but that's like saying that .1% of baseball bat swings lead to a home run- there's so many nuances that have an important (How good are most players? Are they even attempting to hit a home run? How many swings do most people take, total?) Two of my favorite books on the subject are: -Illusions of Entrepreneurship (affiliate URL removed by admin) which does a great job of breaking down the statistics by education, original income level, ect. The high-tech startups that dominate the headlines make up a vanishingly small percentage of total entrepreneurship (and very few entrepreneurs are Zuckerberg-aged) -Action Trumps Everything (affiliate URL removed by admin) (or free through Babson College: (affiliate URL removed by admin)) which is like 'entrepreneurship philosophy'. It goes beyond 'Illusions' dry stats and talks about strategies that are appropriate for such an unknowable world Does anyone else have suggestions for great entrepreneurship books?


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

3 Health Insurance Misconceptions

Paint A Word Picture - Excite Your Customer

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.