Entrepreneurship Development in a Local Context: Evidence from Entrepreneurs in the Eastern Region of Cameroon

Abstract

In Cameroon, entrepreneurial activities are developed from two main cities namely; Douala and Yaoundé. Therefore researches on entrepreneurship development in Cameroon are based on entrepreneurs from these main cities, while other regions entrepreneurial activities are not considered as a target for entrepreneurship analysis. This paper analyses entrepreneurial activities in Eastern Cameroon that has a lowest level of enterprise creation that is in contrast to the abundant natural resources in the region. The study highlights the characteristic of local entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial activities as well as the local institutional environment context. The study was based on a survey of 138 local entrepreneurs and the study used both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The descriptive results revealed that local entrepreneurs are largely youthful and the entrepreneurial activities are mainly developed from the small business sector. The study found out that lack of infrastructure; government subsidies and financial resources negatively affected the development of entrepreneurship. The Study suggests that the development of activities from strategic sectors such as agro-industries, forestry industries and mining and a setting of suitable policies and developmental programs at a level of local government could contribute to the socio-economic development of the region and of the country at large.