African Immigrant Entrepreneurs Research Articles

The Motivations and Obstacles to Immigrant Entrepreneurship in South Africa

This study investigates the motivations and obstacles to immigrant entrepreneurship in South Africa. 101 immigrant entrepreneurs participated in the survey and a self-administered questionnaire was employed in gathering data from African-immigrant entrepreneurs operating in selected cities (Alice, King Williams Town, East London and Port Elizabeth) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The respondents were selected using the simple random sampling method. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics and the principal component analysis. The results indicate that immigrant entrepreneurs employ both native and immigrants. The r esults furthermore indicate that immigrant entrepreneurs are driven into entrepreneurship by both push and pull factors. Employment (a push factor) is the most important trigger. The results also indicate that the obstacl es to the performance of immigrant-owned businesses include finance, weak markets, human capital and lack of support. In addition, networking by immigrant is limited to co-ethnics and most immigrant entrepreneurs are not members of regional chambers of commerce. The study gives recommendations on how immigrant entrepreneurs, commercial banks and government can improve immigrant entrepreneurship in South Africa.

African immigrants in South Africa: Job takers or job creators?

During the last decade African immigrants have been met with and exposed to severe forms of hostility towards their presence in this country. A significant number of these migrants have successfully applied their entrepreneurial flair in establishing small enterprises and employing workers, often to the envy of their local counterparts. This paper presents the findings of an empirical study conducted in 2007 on job creation by African immigrant entrepreneurs for South Africans with face-to-face interviews with 120 African immigrant entrepreneurs. These findings were triangulated 7 non-governmental organisations that interact with immigrants in Cape Town. A review of the literature on migration, entrepreneurship and immigrant entrepreneurs formed the basis for the study The findings indicate that more than 80% of African immigrant entrepreneurs interviewed employ South Africans in their businesses. Despite a generally negative national perception towards immigrants, this study has also revealed that entrepreneurial skills are transferred from immigrant entrepreneurs to their South African employees. Whilst the study was only conducted in the suburban areas of Cape Town, the researcher believes that the results represent the general trend for South Africa. Furthermore, the study only involved those migrants who come from African continent. The overall result is the acknowledgement of the contribution that non-citizens are making to the country’s growth and development. The findings suggest recommendations geared towards policy changes regarding South African immigration law, an inclusive research about the role of immigrants on job creation in South Africa, as well as the consideration of immigrant entrepreneurs when allocating financial support.

Characteristics and business profiles of immigrant-owned small firms: the case of African immigrant entrepreneurs in Greece

Research cites that immigrant businesses are closely intertwined with national interest in community, economic and social development. In addition, national economic and social science research, and statistics reflect that immigrant entrepreneurship in Greece has a direct economic impact on the local economies and provides a springboard for successful immigrant social integration into the host society. The second article of a dynamic five-year project to research and promote the unique entrepreneurial and self-employment spirit brought by immigrants and refugees to Greece, the purpose of the current research is threefold: (1) to determine characteristics and business profiles of small firms owned and operated by African immigrant entrepreneurs in Athens, Greece, (2) to view ethnic enterprise as a means of socio-cultural integration in the host society, aiming to reveal rich and varied forms of economic self-organisation and (3) based on the results of this preliminary study, recommendations are made for developing a follow-up three-year longitudinal study of African immigrant businesses in Athens.