Denis Opudo
According to the current Global entrepreneurship survey report, entrepreneurial activities decreased in South Africa for many years now. The chief operations officer, Mark Paper, noted the low performance. He referred to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor’s (GEM) 2017/2028 report. Based on this report, South Africa was position forty-two out of fifty-four nations. He added that the country needs to improve the tech ecosystem to mitigate low ranking. Total early-stage entrepreneurial operation recorded eleven percent this year. This performance showed a positive indicator as compared to the previous years. There was an improvement of 4% as compared to 2016 which was 6.9%.
Despite the increase in entrepreneurial activities, the ranking is still very low. The survey report indicated a rise in the ranking from 42 out of 54 last year to 27 out of 54 this year. The factors responsible for this change include the adoption of 2017 entrepreneurship policy. The report recommended support to the small business sector and tax relief.
There exist some barriers underpinning South African’s entrepreneurial spirit. The challenges need urgent solutions to boost the GEM ranking. The study found out that entrepreneurship quality is below other African countries. Mr. Paper disagreed with the survey based on stable tech governance and SMEs’ innovations. To transform the sector, people’s perception about entrepreneurship need to change in this era.
