1st Edition

Young Entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa

Edited By Katherine V. Gough, Thilde Langevang Copyright 2016
    294 Pages 33 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    294 Pages 33 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Young people in sub-Saharan Africa are growing up in rapidly changing social and economic environments which produce high levels of un- and underemployment. Job creation through entrepreneurship is currently being promoted by international organizations, governments and NGOs as a key solution, despite there being a dearth of knowledge about youth entrepreneurship in an African context.

    This book makes an important contribution by exploring the nature of youth entrepreneurship in Ghana, Uganda and Zambia. It provides new insights into conceptual and methodological discussions of youth entrepreneurship as well as presenting original empirical data. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative research, conducted under the auspices of a collaborative, interdisciplinary and comparative research project, it highlights the opportunities and challenges young people face in setting up and running businesses. Divided into a number of clear sections, each with its own introduction and conclusion, the book considers the nature of youth entrepreneurship at the national level, in both urban and rural areas, in specific sectors - including mobile telephony, mining, handicrafts and tourism - and analyses how key factors, such as microfinance, social capital and entrepreneurship education, affect youth entrepreneurship.

    New light is shed on the multi-faceted nature of youth entrepreneurship and a convincing case is presented for a more nuanced understanding of the term entrepreneurship and the situation faced by many African youth today.

    This book will be of interest to a wide range of scholars interested in youth entrepreneurship, including in development studies, business studies, youth studies and geography, as well as to development practitioners and policy makers.

    1. Introduction: Youth entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa  Katherine V. Gough and Thilde Langevang  Part I: National studies of youth entrepreneurship  Introduction to Part 1  Katherine V. Gough and Thilde Langevang  2. Youth entrepreneurship trends and policies in Uganda  Rebecca Namatovu, Thilde Langevang, Samuel Dawa and Sarah Kyejjusa  3. Youth entrepreneurship in Ghana: current trends and policies  George Owusu, Paul W.K. Yankson and Robert Darko Osei  4. Measuring and promoting youth entrepreneurship in Zambia  Francis Chigunta and Valentine Mwanza  Concluding comments to Part 1  Katherine V. Gough and Thilde Langevang  Part II: Youth entrepreneurship in urban settlements  Introduction to Part 2  Katherine V. Gough and Thilde Langevang  5. Young entrepreneurs in Lusaka: overcoming constraints through ingenuity and social entrepreneurship  Francis Chigunta, Katherine V. Gough and Thilde Langevang  6. Youth entrepreneurship in Kampala: managing scarce resources in a challenging environment  Thilde Langevang, Katherine V. Gough and Rebecca Namatovu  7. Prospects and challenges of youth entrepreneurship in a Nima-Maamobi, a low-income neighbourhood of Accra  Paul W.K. Yankson and George Owusu Concluding comments to Part 2  Katherine V. Gough and Thilde Langevang  Part III: Youth entrepreneurship in rural areas  Introduction to Part 3  Katherine V. Gough and Thilde Langevang  8. Mobile rural youth in northern Ghana: combining near and distant opportunity spaces  Katherine V. Gough and Torben Birch-Thomsen  9. Rural youth entrepreneurship in eastern Uganda  Søren Bech Pilgaard Kristensen, Rebecca Namatovu and Samuel Dawa  10. Rural youth in northern Zambia: straddling the rural-urban divide  Torben Birch-Thomsen  Concluding comments to Part 3  Katherine V. Gough and Thilde Langevang  Part IV: Youth entrepreneurship in specific sectors  Introduction to Part 4  Katherine V. Gough and Thilde Langevang  11.Young entrepreneurs in the mobile telephony sector in Ghana  Robert L. Afutu-Kotey  12. Youth entrepreneurship in a small-scale gold mining settlement in Ghana  Marshall Kala  13. Young female entrepreneurs in Uganda: handicraft production as a livelihood strategy  Sarah Kyejjusa, Katherine V. Gough and Søren Bech Pilgaard Kristensen  14. Employment in the tourism industry: a pathway to entrepreneurship for Ugandan youth  Samuel Dawa and Søren Jeppesen  Concluding comments to Part 4  Katherine V. Gough and Thilde Langevang  Part V: Stimulating youth entrepreneurship  Introduction to Part 5  Katherine V. Gough and Thilde Langevang  15. Social capital among young entrepreneurs in Zambia  Moonga H. Mumba  16. Innovative approaches by Ugandan microfinance institutions to reach out to young entrepreneurs  Agnes Noelin Nassuna, Søren Jeppesen and Waswa Balunywa  17. Entrepreneurship education in Uganda: impact on graduate intentions to set up a business  Edith Mwebaza Basalirwa, Katherine V. Gough and Waswa Balunywa  Concluding comments to Part 5  Katherine V. Gough and Thilde Langevang

    Biography

    Katherine V. Gough is Professor of Human Geography at Loughborough University. She has over 20 years’ experience of conducting research on urban issues in the global South, with a particular focus on young people.

    Thilde Langevang is Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Development Studies at Copenhagen Business School. She has been conducting research on youth in Africa for over 10 years.