Influence of social entrepreneurs on community development in Enugu west senatorial district of Enugu state, Nigeria

Abstract

Social entrepreneurship is not a new-fangled observable fact in Nigeria. Though the practice has constantly existed, for countless reasons, the concept is gaining reputation in current years. Although the focus has been on business entrepreneurship as a tool for economic development, the light is now on social entrepreneurship, which entails attempting to serious social issues for sustainable community development. Community development efforts have met with diverse challenges that hamper sustainability of the society. The appearance of social entrepreneurship as a cross move towards positive force for transforming communities put forwards the prospects of dealing with the key challenges of lack of support by government, deficiency of financial assistant, changing environment, out of pocket work, domination by wealthy founders and philanthropists, lack of skilled manpower, poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, climate changes, health care challenges, insecurity and other social and economic issues. This paper throws light on who social entrepreneurs are what they do and the role they play in achieving sustainable community development. Using a conceptual framework defined social entrepreneurs, characteristics, principles and role of social entrepreneurs towards community development process. The paper concludes with suggestive principles that could provide an enhanced insight on the role of social entrepreneurs in community development. To enhance their impact, social entrepreneurs should involve beneficiaries trapped within socio-economic problems in the process of community development.