South African Entrepreneurship

Hello from sunny Cape Town!

Before I started working for the Saltire Foundation when I would think of an entrepreneur two images would come to mind. The first image was of the archetypical serial entrepreneur such as Richard Branson. The other image came from the time I lived in South Africa-the African businessman/businesswoman, who uses whatever resources at hand to create and sell a product or service.

I've been back in Cape Town for a week now and have been struck by the spirit of entrepreneurship shown at all levels of South African society. Most everyone amongst my friends and family are entrepreneurs in some sense --- from selling handmade jewellery to high-end shops, to selling sandwiches at work to supplement income, to using creative funding methods to fund NGO activity, to opening their own shop--- there is a great sense of making opportunities for yourself in South Africa.

That said, much of the entrepreneurial activities in South Africa come out of dire need and poverty due to the limited social welfare system. Here, much entrepreneurship comes out of the need to survive. This type of entrepreneurial activity may not show up in documents such as the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, as a lot of it occurs in the informal economy. However, I believe that the spirit of entrepreneurship is embedded in all parts of South African society, including the middle and upper classes. In my experience entrepreneurship is encouraged informally as part of daily conversation across all segments of the Rainbow Nation.

Entrepreneurship in South Africa differs from Scotland in that it is more widespread amongst different strata of society--- but that it also occurs on a much smaller scale, as most South African entrepreneurs are focused more on making ends meet rather than creating global companies of scale. Whereas Scotland has amazing formal structures to support entrepreneurship --- from the Saltire Foundation, to Young Enterprise, to SIE, to Enterprise Gym, to the newly launched Entrepreneurial Spark, to the Entrepreneurial Exchange and to Scottish Enterprise itself --- what may be missing is this spirit of entrepreneurship thriving in all sections of Scottish society.

Being in Cape Town during Global Entrepreneurship Week has highlighted to me that entrepreneurship comes in many different forms and the importance of both societal and structural support for these activities. I will return to Scotland even more convinced of the importance of the work of the Saltire Foundation --- in not only building the entrepreneurial spirit, but also in raising the ambition and confidence of Scotland's future business leaders.