African entrepreneurs operate in economic environments that often differ sharply from those in which established entrepreneurship theories were developed. Limited access to finance, informal markets, institutional barriers and persistent inequality shape how businesses start, survive and grow. Yet research from the continent remains underrepresented in international entrepreneurship debates.
To address this gap, Stellenbosch Business School will bring together African and international researchers from 26 to 28 October 2026 for a seminar titled Reframing Small Business and Entrepreneurship Research: Positioning African Scholarship for Global Impact.
Hosted by Professor Armand Bam, Head of Social Impact and Academic Head of the Small Business Academy at Stellenbosch Business School, the seminar will focus on how African researchers can produce work that not only reflects local realities but also challenges and advances international entrepreneurship theory.
Bam believes African entrepreneurship research needs to do more than demonstrate how established theories apply in local contexts. “In South Africa, small businesses are often identified as important drivers of employment and economic growth, yet many struggle to access finance, enter established markets and build sustainable enterprises. Better research is needed to understand why these barriers persist and why enterprise development initiatives produce uneven results,” says Bam.
“We regularly hear that small businesses are the engines of economic growth and employment creation. But repeating that statement does not explain why so many entrepreneurs struggle to access opportunities, why support programmes produce uneven outcomes, or why some enterprises remain trapped in survivalist activities.”
Bam says a clearer understanding of the conditions in which small businesses operate could help inform enterprise support, access to finance, inclusive procurement and public policy.
“For decades, much of our understanding of entrepreneurship has been shaped by research conducted in economically developed countries. African researchers have frequently been expected to demonstrate how these theories apply in our contexts. But what happens when the theories themselves fail to explain what we observe?”
He says the experiences of women entrepreneurs, informal traders, township enterprises and small businesses in resource-constrained communities offer opportunities to examine assumptions about entrepreneurial behaviour, innovation and growth.
“These are not simply examples of entrepreneurship taking place under difficult circumstances. They present opportunities to develop new explanations of entrepreneurial behaviour, resilience, innovation and economic participation. Africa should not simply provide the data for theories developed elsewhere. We should contribute to developing those theories,” says Bam.
The seminar will feature Associate Professor Amon Simba of Nottingham Business School at Nottingham Trent University in the United Kingdom and Professor Renato Pereira of ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon in Portugal.
Both bring expertise relevant to understanding entrepreneurship in African and other emerging economies, including the role of institutions, innovation and economic development.
Simba, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Nottingham Business School and Director of its African Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research Hub, researches informal entrepreneurship, poverty, inclusive entrepreneurship and the influence of institutional conditions on enterprise development. His work examines how entrepreneurs operate in environments where access to resources and formal economic opportunities may be limited.
For Simba, the challenge is to ensure that African research is both grounded in the realities of the continent and relevant to wider international debates. “African entrepreneurship offers important insights into how entrepreneurs navigate uncertainty, institutional constraints and limited resources. These experiences should not simply be treated as variations of established entrepreneurial models. They provide opportunities to question existing assumptions and advance our theoretical understanding of entrepreneurship,” says Simba.
Pereira’s expertise in entrepreneurship, innovation, international management and emerging economies brings a complementary perspective to the seminar. His research includes the relationship between entrepreneurship and economic development, with particular interests in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Entrepreneurship and innovation do not take place in isolation. They are influenced by institutional environments, access to resources, markets and the broader conditions for economic development. Understanding these relationships is particularly important in emerging economies, where entrepreneurship frequently takes place under conditions that differ significantly from those assumed in conventional models,” says Pereira.
He sees international collaboration as an opportunity to strengthen research capabilities and develop knowledge that is relevant to both academic debates and economic development.
“African researchers have an important contribution to make to these discussions, particularly when their work reflects the realities of the economies and communities being studied,” he says.
The seminar will also support emerging researchers through discussions on research design, methodology, theoretical development and academic publishing. Participants will have opportunities to develop research manuscripts, exchange ideas with established scholars and explore international research collaborations. The initiative forms part of Stellenbosch Business School’s broader commitment to socially relevant scholarship and the Small Business Academy’s work in supporting entrepreneurship and inclusive economic participation.
For Bam, the objective is to strengthen the influence of African research on how entrepreneurship is understood and supported. “There is something fundamentally limiting about viewing Africa primarily as a research setting rather than a source of knowledge. Our economic realities are complex, but that complexity is precisely what makes them intellectually important.”
