Research Article: 2022 Vol: 28 Issue: 5
Iwaloye Bunmi Omoniyi, University of Zululand
Bongani Thulani Gamede, University of Zululand
Citation Information: Omoniyi, I.B., & Gamede, B.T. (2022). The impact of business development and management on the economy of South Africa. Academy of Entrepreneurship Journal, 28(5), 1-14.
Using South Africa as a case study, this study looked at the impact of entrepreneurship on the country's economic development. Data was gathered using a qualitative method. As a result, semi-structured interviews were performed with eight people in four rural South African districts. The study's findings suggest that elements such as job creation, community development, raising the standard of living, and encouraging research and development for entrepreneurship, among others, are all aspects that contribute to the country's economic growth and development. As a result, it is suggested that everyone should learn how to be an entrepreneur, that educational institutions and government organizations should work together to promote work-integrated learning, and that government policies should tell the country how important entrepreneurship is to the growth of the economy.
Economic Development, Entrepreneurship, Impact, Career, Management.
Entrepreneurship is a critical component of a country's economy's long-term stability. Entrepreneurship assists people in developing their skills, knowledge, attitudes, and values, all of which contribute to a country's economic strength. Entrepreneurship is a critical component of any country's development, particularly one in transition like South Africa. The South African government is committed to developing SMMEs as a means of advancing the country's economy. These SMMEs are run by entrepreneurs, people who take risks and persuade others to take risks. Entrepreneurs play a crucial part in the economy of a country since they contribute to the taxation system. Both emerging and developed countries consider entrepreneurship education to be an investment.
Entrepreneurship is a tool for people interested in starting businesses or working in related industries (Hisrich & Cabrera, 2012). Entrepreneurship is a discipline that focuses on how, why, and when opportunities are identified, generated, and implemented (Toma et al., 2014). The 'finding and exploitation of opportunities" is how most people describe entrepreneurship (Shane & Ventakaraman, 2000). Various wealthy nations appear to be moving in the direction of entrepreneurship and innovation in recent years. The first ten well-performing nations in terms of entrepreneurship, according to the 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Index study, are all industrialized countries (The Entrepreneurship and Development Institute, 2018).
The preceding paragraph elucidates the impact of entrepreneurship, among other things, on the economic development and standard of living of developed countries across the globe. This is supported by the findings of Seelos & Mair (2005), who claim that entrepreneurship benefits both society and the entrepreneurs. Productive entrepreneurship is the term for this type of growth. But unproductive and harmful entrepreneurship is defined as entrepreneurship that helps entrepreneurs but hurts society.
The researcher thinks that the type of entrepreneurship that is common in many countries is not helpful or even harmful because it has hurt some societies while giving many entrepreneurs good things (Foelster, 2020).
According to Sehoole & Nkomo (2007), government policies can aid in the promotion of development in rural areas, guaranteeing equity in the types of development experienced across a country. They also believe that the government should develop educational institutions such as formal schools, universities, companies, and organizations at all times. Many people within and around communities should feel empowered as a result of this.
South Africa's unemployment rate is roughly 28 percent, according to Statistics South Africa (2017). To summarize, South Africa's unemployment rate appears to be among the highest on the African continent in recent years. As a result, the goal of this research is to find out what elements will help the economy grow. The research also looks into several ways that entrepreneurship might be used to help the country's poor people.
Business Development and Entrepreneurship
Another important purpose of economic development is to improve people's living standards in their communities. Entrepreneurs are now again important in raising a community's standard of living. They accomplish this not only by creating jobs, but also by discovering and implementing innovations that improve the quality of life for their employees, customers, and other community stakeholders. Automation that lowers manufacturing costs and speeds up production, for example, will make a business unit more productive while still supplying the same goods at reduced prices to its customers (Galvão, 2017).
Entrepreneurship has a significant impact on the country's economic development and living standards. You may believe that as a startup founder, all you're doing is working hard to establish your own company and provide for your family. But you're doing a lot more for your neighborhood, state, region, and country as a whole (GEDI, 2018).
The GDP is the total value of all final items produced in a country's economy inside its borders in a given year, generally one. To have a high GDP, there must be a large number of businesses running because GDP is defined in terms of production that occurs inside the country's borders. This boosts the currency and reduces unemployment as a result of the labor force that will be needed to run these businesses.
Economic growth is a necessary step in many economic activities that make the country more competitive in other countries where the benefits of its positive economy can be enjoyed even abroad where there will be room for trading the goods produced in the country.
Many developing countries around the world are focusing their development efforts on their cities (Knoll, 2017). He goes on to say that the emphasis on urbanization is one of the reasons that cities are always overcrowded, leading to overpopulation. In such regions, the cost of living rises, as does the rate of crime. Entrepreneurship is the solution to youth unemployment in South Africa, according to a report released by the UN Secretary-General's Office on Youth (2014). To put it another way, if entrepreneurship is not encouraged in South Africa, unemployment may endure. Many people, on the other hand, try to stay in such places in order to survive. However, a number of factors stymie entrepreneurship (Murioz et al., 2016). The following are some of these variables:
Factors that Influence Entrepreneurship as a Means of Boosting Economic Growth
Entrepreneurship aids the start-up of new firms, particularly small businesses, by allowing entrepreneurs to realize their original ideas. Small businesses that are started and grown through entrepreneurship are a unique part of every country's economy.
Economic growth and development can be aided by the following factors:
Possibilities for Job Growth
Entrepreneurship enterprises created a significant number of new jobs and supplied the entry-level jobs that unskilled employees required to get expertise.
The only sector that provides a significant number of jobs each year is small businesses. Furthermore, entrepreneurial businesses train and supply skilled labor to huge corporations.
Entrepreneurship fosters innovation, which disrupts the current order. It includes more than just innovation; it also includes implementation and commercialization. Entrepreneurship makes a "leap frog" contribution to innovation, research, and development. Entrepreneurship fosters innovation by bringing new enterprises, products, technology, markets, and product quality to the economy, thus raising GDP and people's living standards.
Developing Communities
A community's employment base will be more diverse if it includes a variety of small entrepreneurial businesses. It encourages more retail outlets, house ownership, fewer slums, improved sanitation, and increased spending on education, recreation, and religious activities. As a result, entrepreneurship contributes to greater community stability and quality of life. Entrepreneurship is the most effective method for integrating those who are disgruntled and excluded from the economy into the economy. Minorities, immigrants, and women can safely start their own businesses, which will help build a well-balanced society with many different types of people.
It Improves Living Standards
The concept of a rising standard of living is based on a household's increasing consumption of a diverse range of goods and services over time. Entrepreneurship is a training ground for new and inexperienced adventurers, and it is viewed as an area where a person might start a business idea that could grow into a large corporation. Every major industrial conglomerate began as a modest business. It is important to realize that entrepreneurship offers a wide range of ideas and people in every economy.
As a result, it is contingent on the market's diversity of items. By innovating, entrepreneurs are able to provide a wide range of products of various kinds. Aside from that, it can help people who work in entrepreneurial businesses earn more money. Because people have more money, they can buy more goods and services. Entrepreneurship, in effect, improves a country's people's level of living.
It Encourages Research and Development
Because entrepreneurship is about innovation, new products and services must be tested by experienced people who use scientific methods to conduct tests. As a result, entrepreneurship provides financing for research and development at universities and research institutions, with the funds coming from the Council for Science and Industrial Research (CSIR). This helps the economy's overall R&D development.
In our civilization, entrepreneurship is the forerunner of events. It is responsible for the country's economic, technological, and cultural prosperity.
In South Africa, there are a variety of factors that might help or hurt entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education.
The Success of Entrepreneurship in South Africa is influenced by a Number of Factors these are some of them
Infrastructural and technological resources are in short supply. According to Murioz et al. (2016), infrastructure and technology capabilities are required in modern entrepreneurial activities. As a result, countries with lagging state-of-the-art infrastructures capable of enhancing particular entrepreneurial activities may struggle to foster entrepreneurship. Meanwhile, according to Kritikos (2014) entrepreneurship generates new technologies; therefore, entrepreneurs must be provided with platforms and adequate support in order to have access to the numerous types of technologies that may be required. To summarize, entrepreneurship may struggle to survive in a particular society unless the government supports it by providing some specialized amenities to ensure that entrepreneurs are productive. Crumpton (2012); Drucker (2015), on the other hand, emphasize the importance of improvisation and creativity. These are meant to help business owners get around problems that could happen if the government doesn't provide certain basic services that will help their businesses run smoothly.
Government policies are critical in determining whether or not a firm can exist and thrive (Kritikos, 2014). This suggests that if the government's policies are unfavorable, an establishment may not be able to withstand the test of time. As a result, the government is expected to support entrepreneurs through various policies that can secure the survival of their businesses, in addition to providing the essential facilities that can increase their productivity. To summarize, government policies can either help or hurt entrepreneurs. (Mahadea & Pillay, 2008) Because of the importance and level of productivity that entrepreneurs can bring to a society, it is very important for the government to look at its policies to encourage and support entrepreneurship.
In South Africa, a scarcity of skilled and experienced workers is seen as a barrier to entrepreneurship (Ntuli & Allopi, 2014). For economic progress to be assured, people must have the necessary skills. Certain abilities, however, appear to be deficient in the setting of South Africa. This has hampered the country's ability to achieve the levels of productivity that it should have achieved. In addition, due to the migration of labor and skilled manpower to metropolitan centers, rural villages are typically populated by a large number of unskilled people. Individuals in rural communities, according to Dani & Shah (2016), require training. Individuals are intended to gain empowerment and become more helpful to themselves and society as a result of this training. This is thought to aid in lowering crime rates in such areas (Mahadea & Pillay, 2008).
Individuals' decisions and thoughts are influenced by the type of entrepreneurial orientation they receive (Leibowitz & Bozalek, 2014). As a result, students or people who are well-informed about the activities, importance, and benefits of productive entrepreneurial activities for both individuals and society are more inclined to engage in such activities and benefit both themselves and society. When individuals are given incorrect or insufficient orientation, the opposite will occur.
Entrepreneurship is hampered by a lack of motivation (Estay et al., 2013). They also believe that entrepreneurs that are motivated to keep their businesses going will reap more rewards. To put it another way, successful entrepreneurship is the result of perseverance in the face of adversity. Intrinsic or extrinsic motivation is possible (Waxler, 2006). Extrinsic motivation for entrepreneurs might include things like government legislation, infrastructure, collaboration with other companies, and profit, whereas intrinsic motivation can include things like personal satisfaction, personal accomplishment, and achieving defined goals. (Caurkubule & Rubanovskis, 2014) Because of this, university rules and a number of other factors can be used to encourage students to become successful entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurship failure can be caused by a lack of mentorship or a weak mentoring program (INSECTA, 2014). According to a report published by the Insurance Sector Education and Training Authority (INSECTA, 2014), while the government supports and encourages entrepreneurship, it is necessary to enhance mentee-mentor activities in various entrepreneurial sectors. This will aid in the growth of entrepreneurial activity in all parts and sectors of society while also assuring their long-term viability. Because of this, employers should be encouraged to pay interns well so they can get graduates who might want to start their own businesses.
One of the key aspects that might help or hurt entrepreneurship in a culture is school and university factors (Connor, 2014). According to Leddy & Gazette (2013); the school plays an important role in inspiring and motivating kids to become effective entrepreneurs and engage in entrepreneurial activities. Thus, entrepreneurship may grow in rural communities if schools and universities in those places ensure that students become involved in entrepreneurial activities and are driven to continue doing so in order to provide solutions to existing difficulties and demands in those regions. It is sufficient to establish that educational institutions in rural areas are required to engage in activities that promote productive entrepreneurial activities, so assuring the long-term growth of such communities and the individuals involved.
South Africa's Rural Universities
In South Africa, rural universities are a variety of institutions of higher learning that are purposefully built in underdeveloped local areas and are charged with the task of helping those communities grow. This will be accomplished through improving their research capacities and outputs, growing their intellectual, social, and entrepreneurial resources, and forming long-term working links with other institutions to promote development (Sehoole & Nkomo, 2007; Uleanya & Gamede, 2017). While rural universities in South Africa appear to engage in a variety of other activities, entrepreneurship appears to be disregarded (Knoll, 2017). Research outputs, for example, are credited and well recognized through annual graduation rates, conference presentations, and seminars, among other activities. Entrepreneurial activities, on the other hand, are rarely promoted or highlighted in rural institutions. This indicates that entrepreneurship is undervalued in such situations.
Furthermore, according to Dani & Shah (2016), rural universities are purposefully constructed in developing areas to guarantee that they provide solutions to current difficulties in those communities and promote long-term development. In other words, rural universities are institutions of higher learning deliberately located in underserved local communities with the goal of providing long-term development to the area through empowerment, support, and partnership with other educational stakeholders. Rural universities are thus developed to meet the unique demands of the community's residents while also taking into account the unique characteristics of the students (Bookin-Weiner, 2015). Enhancing productive entrepreneurship in such regions is one way that local community members' needs are intended to be met. In rural parts of South Africa, however, the situation appears to be reversed, with the focus remaining on urban development and rural populations receiving the least attention. This is described by Hall & Woermann (2014) as a social act of inequity and injustice.
Identify the Problem
Entrepreneurship is sought to assist in the promotion of development in many situations in various civilizations and countries. In the meantime, the government establishes educational institutions such as high schools and universities in rural areas in order to legislate and promote development. A large sum of money appears to have been budgeted and spent on rural education, which is expected to benefit the host community, citizens, the government, and other education stakeholders by first catering to the unique needs of the rural environments in which they are located, as well as the nation at large. However, some established rural institutions of learning, which are expected to provide solutions to the unique requirements and expectations of their host communities, tend to focus on diverse research projects, the results of which are frequently ignored by society. On the contrary, entrepreneurship, which is a core instrument for promoting development while lowering unemployment and poverty in the community, has been investigated and applied in many industrialized countries, but it appears to be overlooked in many developing communities and countries. Furthermore, entrepreneurship is thought to be beneficial to both individuals and society as a whole in industrialized cultures where it is well practiced. As a result, the purpose of this research is to find out why entrepreneurship is hampered in a specific rural area in South Africa. A selected rural-based institution in South Africa is also used to investigate possible strategies for insuring profitable entrepreneurial activity.
Issues to Ponder
This study is guided by the following research questions:
What problems keep you from promoting entrepreneurship in the South African rural community you chose?
Can entrepreneurship help a rural South African community reduce or get rid of unemployment and poverty?
In this study, data was collected using a qualitative approach. This was due to the study's purpose, which was to gather detailed information on the obstacles impeding the promotion of entrepreneurship and the eradication of unemployment and poverty in a rural community in South Africa. According to Creswell (2017); Kumar (2014), qualitative research is appropriate for getting in-depth information but not from a representative sample, and so may not be suited for population generalization. The study's participants are 12 final-year undergraduate university students from a rural South African university. The students were chosen based on their campus experiences and the assumption that they should have completed industrial training prior to their senior year. Furthermore, South Africa was chosen for this research since the quality of their higher education is well-known in the African continent's university rankings. In addition, the country's unemployment rate is high in comparison to many other African countries, and its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is higher than that of many other African countries. Twelve people were chosen from all four schools at a rural South African school using a method called "strategic sampling."
Analytical Instruments
The goal of the study was to find out what is preventing rural communities in South Africa from establishing and growing their own businesses. The 12 randomly selected students who took part in the study were interviewed in semi-structured interviews. After that, the information was coded and analyzed thematically.
Based on each research topic, the conclusions of the study are shown below.
What issues are preventing rural communities in South Africa from promoting entrepreneurship?
In South Africa's rural communities, there are several barriers to entrepreneurship.
The elements that impede the establishment, growth, and development of rural communities in South Africa, as they relate to the rural community chosen. The following is a list of the respondents' responses to the limiting factors:
Theme 1
Infrastructural deficiency: The majority of respondents believe that a lack of infrastructure within the institution makes it difficult to start and grow a business in the neighborhood. The following are some of the responses from respondents ('R' stands for Respondent):
R7: Entrepreneurship is a great idea, and I believe it will benefit our community, but I believe our institution needs to position itself first by building infrastructure that will support such a program.
R1: Our University lacks the necessary infrastructure to support entrepreneurial instruction. I don't think that business education, let alone encouraging people to be entrepreneurs, is a good idea.
R8: Due to a lack of infrastructure, entrepreneurship is relatively limited in our town. We can't, for example, compare the infrastructure in cities to the infrastructure in the country.
R10: Before embarking on entrepreneurial education that will benefit our community's development, it will be necessary to first assess the current infrastructure.
Our community will be a better place if facilities are in place and entrepreneurship education or programs are implemented in this institution.
The preceding statements imply that a lack of infrastructure is a contributing factor impeding entrepreneurship in the rural community in question. While the respondents are happy to have entrepreneurship in their community, they would prefer it to be included first as a university program or module. Lack of infrastructure, on the other hand, appears to be a serious impediment.
Institutions and government policies are the second and third themes. Respondents' comments indicate that policies appear to contribute to the absence of entrepreneurial growth in the rural community in question. Both university and government policies fall under this category. The following are a few of the respondents' responses to this topic:
R4: Government policies are important and can affect the start-up or growth of businesses in any community, even a rural one like ours.
R6: If the government wants to encourage people to start businesses, it must create policies that encourage people (including foreigners) to do so.
R12: The University should take notes from measures that benefit colleges in developed countries where entrepreneurship thrives. This will assist us in developing and enacting policies that encourage entrepreneurship.
R5: This University does not appear to have an entrepreneurial policy. I think the government should make these rules for schools (universities) so that people will be more likely to start their own businesses and our community will benefit.
According to the replies given above, policies have an impact on local entrepreneurship. Because the university appears to lack entrepreneurial rules, the government should step in to help.
The third theme is a lack of entrepreneurship education. According to the report, the majority of students are not educated about the importance of entrepreneurship and are instead taught to believe in the idea of pursuing a career after graduation and preparing for it. The following are some of the responses to the entrepreneurship orientations given to the respondents:
Individuals' decisions and thoughts are influenced by the type of entrepreneurial orientation they receive (Leibowitz & Bozalek, 2014). As a result, students or individuals who are well informed about the activities, importance, and benefits of productive entrepreneurial activities for both individuals and society are more inclined to engage in such activities and benefit both themselves and society.
None of my professors have ever brought up entrepreneurship as a topic.
R1: We're led to believe that we're being trained for a career in any established corporation.
R9: I'm aware that the bulk of us lack entrepreneurial skills because we aren't taught about it and no one tells us.
R10: I believe our city has a high unemployment rate because no one provides any kind of orientation to pupils, even those who may be interested in entrepreneurship.
R2: Every orientation is designed to help us excel academically from the first day we arrive at the university. This is excellent, but I feel we should be given entrepreneurship training. This is going to be quite beneficial.
R5: I sell muffins on occasion, despite the fact that no one ever told or educated me about entrepreneurship.
Most of our professors don't even mention it, let alone encourage us; in fact, only a few of them do.
According to the survey findings, the majority of students are uninformed about entrepreneurship and how to become one. This means that entrepreneurship in the neighborhood may continue to be harmed.
Respondents' Findings Show that the University's Curriculum adds to the Community's Failure of Entrepreneurship. The Following are some of the Responses
R1: I'm not sure if the university's curriculum includes anything like entrepreneurship.
If entrepreneurship had been incorporated into the university's curriculum, it would have had an impact in one way or another.
The university's curriculum is its engine; I believe that entrepreneurship is not included in the school's (university's) curriculum; otherwise, we would have known about and offered entrepreneurial courses.
R4: I believe we would have done better if we had been required to participate in entrepreneurial courses or modules. Some of us, I suppose, would have made good businesspeople.
The comments show that the school's curriculum doesn't have any programs or modules on entrepreneurship, which the students have noticed.
The fifth theme is pupils' socioeconomic background and family beliefs. The socio-economic background of pupils appears to be a barrier to entrepreneurship in the selected rural community, according to the research. Some of the responses can be found below:
R5: My parents are counting on me to finish school, obtain a job, and start helping out around the house.
R10: My family has never considered it because there is no money and they believe that working in a corporation is the best way to make money.
R12: My family believes that after graduation, a person should work and earn money. Being an entrepreneur isn't something they consider.
R8: ...even if I wanted to be an entrepreneur, I couldn't because of the need for money and my family's opinion that the only way to make money after graduating from university is to work in an established firm.
R7: I wish my family would allow me to work as an entrepreneur for a period of time. That will not be doable, unfortunately. I can only hope and pray that after graduation, I will be able to get a good career.
This finding demonstrates that a student's socioeconomic background influences his or her likelihood of becoming an entrepreneur, even if they desire to do so.
Theme 6
A lack of high-quality collaboration: Collaboration with established businesses is expected to be one of the most important factors in encouraging entrepreneurship in rural areas.
The report does, however, imply that there is little or no collaboration between the institutions and groups that can help businesses. The following are some of the responses:
R3: I haven't seen or heard of any collaboration between a school (university) and a business that can aid entrepreneurship.
R9: I understand how collaborations between our university and businesses can benefit us and our communities, but I don't believe they exist. Research collaborations, not entrepreneurship.
R11: Well, it's possible that we don't hear about or know about entrepreneurial collaboration because we don't operate entrepreneurship programs.
This conclusion implies that the university and existing businesses in the town are not working together. To sum up, the lack of this kind of collaboration makes it harder for entrepreneurs to start up in a community.
Can Entrepreneurship in Rural Communities in South Africa help to Alleviate or Eliminate Poverty?
Theme #7
Entrepreneurship helps people get out of poverty and unemployment: The majority of students agree that entrepreneurship can help reduce poverty rates in their local community, as evidenced by their responses to the second research question, which is explained under theme 7: 'Entrepreneurship Combats Unemployment and Poverty." The following are a few examples of responses:
R2: Everyone will be automatically busy and useful to him as a result of his entrepreneurship. Personal wealth will be created as a result.
R7: Entrepreneurship can assist people in earning a living. As a result, they'll be more receptive to their families' demands.
R4: We must think about entrepreneurship as a nation if we are to consider development and ensure that unemployment is eradicated.
R6: As recent graduates, we have a limited job market. Many of us have no idea what we will do when we graduate, but I believe that if we are taught, encouraged, and empowered to be entrepreneurs, our story will be different and better.
R10: Entrepreneurs are desperately needed. People who become entrepreneurs will be able to generate small amounts of money on a daily basis, allowing them to meet some of their basic needs, including food.
R12: When the unemployment rate falls, so does poverty. As a result, I believe that entrepreneurship can help our society to become less impoverished.
R11: Entrepreneurship will help to reduce crime and promote community peace. Nothing is more desirable in a society than peace.
R3 :Developed countries with various economic systems have recognized the value of entrepreneurship, and it is proving to be beneficial to them. For example, only a few well-known entrepreneurs in the country are South Africans. This elucidates the country's attitude toward entrepreneurship.
This finding implies that entrepreneurship can help the community reduce poverty in a variety of ways. So, entrepreneurship can help get rid of poverty and make rural areas more peaceful.
The study's results show that the lack of entrepreneurial growth in the selected rural community in South Africa is caused by a lack of infrastructure, institutional and government policies, student orientation, university curriculum, students' socioeconomic backgrounds and family beliefs, and a lack of collaboration between the university and organizations.
The findings of the study on infrastructures leading to poor community entrepreneurship align with the findings of Murioz et al. (2016), who argue that infrastructures are critical for entrepreneurship to grow in any community. To summarize, a lack of infrastructure in educational institutions and communities contributes to the lack of entrepreneurial growth in the chosen rural community.
The study's findings also imply that the institution's and government's policies contribute to the community's lack of entrepreneurial activity. This supports the views of Kritikos (2014), who believe that policies are critical in ensuring the survival and expansion of entrepreneurship in any society. The study's results also match those of Leibowitz & Bozalek (2014), who say that the orientation given to students has a big effect on how aware they are and the choices they make in life.
Furthermore, the research demonstrates that the university's curriculum contributes to the obstacles of entrepreneurship in the selected rural region. This is in line with the findings of Grisham-Brown & Hemmeter (2017), who believe that an institution's curriculum shapes or mars students' talents and influences their decisions on a variety of topics in life. The findings about students' socioeconomic backgrounds and the beliefs of their families support Okioga's (2013) claim that students' socioeconomic backgrounds affect their ability to learn, their beliefs, and the choices they make in life.
The findings that a lack of collaboration between the university and organizations is a contributing factor impeding entrepreneurship in the selected rural community align with Connor's study, which emphasizes the importance of mentorship in the development of entrepreneurs. When educational institutions are able to partner with specialists who can assist students through a mentee-mentor relationship, mentorship might be considered sufficiently relevant.
Furthermore, the study's findings suggest that the majority of students believe that entrepreneurship can help to eliminate unemployment and poverty. This finding backs up the Office of the Secretary-Envoy General's on Youth's (2014) work, which claims that entrepreneurship is a long-term solution to unemployment in societies, including rural ones.
Final Thoughts and Recommendations
The study looked into the necessity for entrepreneurship to be used as a tool for addressing unemployment in rural communities in South Africa. As a result, obstacles inhibiting entrepreneurship in a South African rural community were explored. This can also be used in other communities in similar situations. The study reveals that rural colleges are founded with the primary goal of fostering development in the host community, and that entrepreneurship is a valuable instrument for driving long-term development in any society. However, the chosen rural institution appears to disregard the significance of entrepreneurship as a vehicle for addressing unemployment, which is one of the most pressing issues facing rural South African populations. The following suggestions are given to this end:
Partnerships between rural universities and commercial or government-owned organizations (NGOs included) in the community may foster productive entrepreneurship in such local surroundings, as well as raise public awareness about the value of entrepreneurship. This will encourage members of such societies to engage in entrepreneurial activity.
Students' curricula should include and foster entrepreneurial activities. This will serve to enlighten the kids and motivate them to participate without requiring much effort from outside sources. It will also teach students how to run a business in a way that is both profitable and good for society as a whole.
Loans should be offered to students who have completed entrepreneurial-oriented programs. This will encourage students to pursue careers as entrepreneurs.
Universities in rural areas should organize short-term entrepreneurship education courses. This will provide information to individuals of the local community who might be interested in starting their own business.
Every university student's curriculum should include at least one basic entrepreneurship module. This will help all university students learn about entrepreneurship, including how important it is and how it can be taught by a single person or a group.
Students enrolled in commerce-related or related courses should be required to start an entrepreneurial business in the rural town or suburb where the university is located before graduating. This will assist such students in becoming entrepreneurs prior to graduation from university. After graduation, these students may be able to work as labor employers. This will assist to alleviate the problems of unemployment in such areas.
Entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship in the community should be celebrated on specific days. This will serve to raise awareness among local residents and educate them on how they can participate in and support entrepreneurship.
Suggestions for Further Research
The current research looked at the factors that stymie entrepreneurship development in a rural community in South Africa. As a result, since just one rural based university was chosen for the study, it is advised that a similar study be carried out in different rural communities in other countries or within South Africa, employing two or more rural institutions of learning or comparing rural and urban based universities. This study used a qualitative method, but similar studies can also use quantitative methods or a mix of the two.
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Received: 18-June-2022, Manuscript No. AEJ-22-12191; Editor assigned: 20-June-2022, PreQC No. AEJ-22-12191(PQ); Reviewed: 30-June-2022, QC No. AEJ-22-12191; Revised: 06-July-2022, Manuscript No. AEJ-22-12191(R); Published: 08-July-2022