Winschiers-Theophilus, Heike, Cabrero, Daniel G., Chivuno-Kuria, Shilumbe, Mendonica, Hedvig, Angula, Shetuyene S. and Onwordi, Lisa (2017) Promoting entrepreneurship amid youth in Windhoek’s informal settlements: a Namibian case. Science Technology and Society, 22 (2). pp. 350-366. ISSN 0971-7218

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Abstract

Considering the high unemployment rate among Namibian youth and a lack of job opportunities, the promotion of entrepreneurship has gained wider attention in the country. A number of initiatives have been started such as entrepreneurship trainings and workshops, business idea competitions, etc. All these aim to inspire young people to think of alternative income sources. As part of a two-year funded community outreach research and development (R&D) project, we have investigated participatory approaches to engage marginalized youth into conceptualizing their own context, imparting skills, and deriving new career paths. This article reports and reflects on one of the interventions we have recently concluded with a group of youth in Havana, an informal settlement in the outskirts of Windhoek. We conducted what we entitled "The Havana Entrepreneur", a series of interactions inspired upon the model of the American reality game show “The Apprentice”. Over a number of weeks two youth groups were given challenges to tackle by means of competing against one another. After completion of each challenge, groups were rated by a number of judges on skills demonstrated such as marketing, presentation, reflection and creativity among others. We observed an increase in, and improvement of skills revealed along tasks’ completion, besides an openly expressed self-realization and discovery of abilities by participants. Moreover, the youth are currently engaged in the continuation of activities beyond the initial entrepreneurial interactions. Thus we suggest replicating "The Havana Entrepreneur", including the recording on camera of it by the youth themselves as a new mode to instigating a wider entrepreneurial spirit in informal settlements.

Item Type:	Article
Identifier:	10.1177/0971721817702294
Additional Information:	The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in Science, Technology and Society, Vol.22, Issue 2, Jul-2017 by Sage Publications Ltd, All rights reserved. © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2016. It is available at: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0971721817702294.
Subjects:	Business and finance > Business and management Business and finance > Business and management > Entrepreneurship Business and finance > Small business > Innovation Business and finance > Small business Business and finance
Depositing User:	Daniel Gonzalez-Cabrero
Date Deposited:	28 Sep 2017 10:59
Last Modified:	04 Nov 2024 12:04
URI:	https://repository.uwl.ac.uk/id/eprint/3964

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