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Scholar Gives Fresh Views On Deepening Social Entrepreneurship In Africa

Enterpreneurship	2583 VIEWS
Enterpreneurship
2583 VIEWS

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Sunday, January 26, 2020 / 6.00PM / Nifemi Taiyese for WebTV / Header Image Credit: Lionesses of Africa

Described as the last frontier of global economic transformation, Africa has great prospects for achieving high-level development and a reduction in its poverty index, said Tony Elumelu, CON, founder Tony Elumelu foundation. Elumelu, believes entrepreneurship is a major tool for uplifting the continent from poverty and rising inequality.

In a recent interview, WebTV engaged Dr. Franklin Nakpodia a lecturer in the Accounting and Finance Department, University of Leeds, the United Kingdom who gave his views on how Africa can deepen social entrepreneurship and advance its economies.

According to him, there were a whole lot of opportunities to strengthen social entrepreneurship in the continent and this was coming at a time Africa was having challenges with its social environment.

Part of the challenge he believed was due to the inability of most small businesses to access the funding they require to scale their operations.

The lack of access to loans he noted was an important basis for encouraging deeper research and studies in the area of social entrepreneurship.

He highlighted the fact that the African business climate had to reposition itself to enable young entrepreneurs to find funding for their startups.

Dr. Nakpodia also pointed out that with the era of the Fourth Revolution (4IR) driven by digital technology, there were immense opportunities for startups on the continent.

"There is a range of opportunities for young entrepreneurs in the area of using Artificial Intelligence and leveraging the internet to scale their business," He said.

Apart from the enabling business environment, another area of top consideration, according to Nakpodia, was a robust infrastructure that would support.

Speaking further, he stressed the need for Nigerian universities to strengthen collaboration with fellow academics in the field of Social Entrepreneurship.