Entrepreneurship Development, Innovation and Township Economy in South Africa

Barbara Ziyane, Sodiq Arogundade and Kwame Osei-Assibey

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: South Africa still grapples with high unemployment, poverty, economic exclusion, and inequality nearly three decades after apartheid ended. Available statistics suggest the presence of hydra-headed issues of poverty, inequality, and unemployment in townships and informal settlements in the country. One primary tool acknowledged by many stakeholders towards addressing these issues is the development of small, medium, and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs) through entrepreneurship development. Thus, this study assesses the socio-economic impact of the eKasiLab programme in the Gauteng province, South Africa. In achieving this objective, a combination of qualitative (semi-structured key informant interviews) and quantitive (Propensity Score Matching (PSM) and textual analysis) approaches were adopted. Results from the analysis show that the ekasiLab programme has significantly improved the entrepreneurship development of beneficiaries – treated/control group, despite notable challenges. The impact could be observed in business growth, productivity improvement, job creation and welfare improvement of the control group.

Keywords: small; medium; and micro-sized enterprises; eKasiLab programme; township economy; innovation; propensity score matching; textual analysis; South Africa. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M20 O3 O40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-05-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ent and nep-mfd
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:117657

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