The Real Reason behind Xenophobia When surveyed by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), South Africa was well below the regional average in entrepreneurial activity. The GEM project was initiated in 1999 as a partnership between the London Business School and Babson College (Massachusetts, United States of America). It conducts an annual assessment of entrepreneurial activity, attitudes and aspirations of individuals from different countries. At 3%, South Africa had the lowest new business ownership rate in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2013. The new business ownership rate is defined as the proportion of the population aged 18 to 64 who own and manage a running business that has paid salaries, wages, or any other payments to the owners for more than three months, but not more than 42 months. The established business ownership rate for the country was equally low at 2%. Uganda had the highest rate in the region at 28%. The established business rate is defined as the proportion of the population aged 18 to 64 who own and manage a running business that has paid salaries, wages, or any other payments to the owners for more than 42 months. South Africa scored the lowest in the world, tied with Panama, and was below the Sub-Saharan average of 13%, while Ghana was the highest at 38%. Only 35% of the surveyed individuals in South Africa held the perception that there were good opportunities to start a business in the area in which they live. Only 39% believed they had the required skills and knowledge to start a business. This is in comparison to 70% and 76%, respectively, for the region. Furthermore only 14% of South Africans surveyed intended to start a business in the next three years. This figure is significantly lower than the regional average of 53%. Of the 11 million jobs the National Development Plan hopes to create by 2030, some 90% are to come from small and emerging businesses. With stagnant entrepreneurial activity in the country and the regulatory burden, there are big challenges in achieving this goal. SAIRR Report by Boitumelo Sethlatswe:
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 21:25:01 +0000
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