Young entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa / edited by Katherine V. Gough and Thilde Langevang.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1 Introduction: youth entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa -- PART I National studies of youth entrepreneurship -- Introduction to Part I -- 2 Youth entrepreneurship trends and policies in Uganda -- 3 Youth entrepreneurship in Ghana: current trends and policies -- 4 Measuring and promoting youth entrepreneurship in Zambia -- Concluding comments to Part I -- PART II Youth entrepreneurship in urban settlements -- Introduction to Part II -- 5 Young entrepreneurs in Lusaka: overcoming constraints through ingenuity and social entrepreneurship -- 6 Youth entrepreneurship in Kampala: managing scarce resources in a challenging environment -- 7 Prospects and challenges of youth entrepreneurship in Nima-Maamobi, a low-income neighbourhood of Accra -- Concluding comments to Part II -- PART III Youth entrepreneurship in rural areas -- Introduction to Part III -- 8 Mobile rural youth in northern Ghana: combining near and distant opportunity spaces -- 9 Rural youth entrepreneurship in eastern Uganda -- 10 Rural youth in northern Zambia: straddling the rural–urban divide -- Concluding comments to Part III -- PART IV Youth entrepreneurship in specific sectors -- Introduction to Part IV -- 11 Young entrepreneurs in the mobile telephony sector in Ghana -- 12 Youth entrepreneurship in a small-scale gold mining settlement in Ghana -- 13 Young female entrepreneurs in Uganda: handicraft production as a livelihood strategy -- 14 Employment in the tourism industry: a pathway to entrepreneurship for Ugandan youth -- Concluding comments to Part IV -- PART V Stimulating youth entrepreneurship -- Introduction to Part V -- 15 Social capital among young entrepreneurs in Zambia -- 16 Innovative approaches by Ugandan microfinance institutions to reach out to young entrepreneurs -- 17 Entrepreneurship education in Uganda: impact on graduate intentions to set up a business -- Concluding comments to Part V -- Index

oung people in sub-Saharan Africa are growing up in rapidly changing social and economic environments which produce high levels of un- and underemployment. Job creation through entrepreneurship is currently being promoted by international organizations, governments and NGOs as a key solution, despite there being a dearth of knowledge about youth entrepreneurship in an African context. This book makes an important contribution by exploring the nature of youth entrepreneurship in Ghana, Uganda and Zambia. It provides new insights into conceptual and methodological discussions of youth entrepreneurship as well as presenting original empirical data. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative research, conducted under the auspices of a collaborative, interdisciplinary and comparative research project, it highlights the opportunities and challenges young people face in setting up and running businesses. Divided into a number of clear sections, each with its own introduction and conclusion, the book considers the nature of youth entrepreneurship at the national level, in both urban and rural areas, in specific sectors - including mobile telephony, mining, handicrafts and tourism - and analyses how key factors, such as microfinance, social capital and entrepreneurship education, affect youth entrepreneurship. New light is shed on the multi-faceted nature of youth entrepreneurship and a convincing case is presented for a more nuanced understanding of the term entrepreneurship and the situation faced by many African youth today.