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Abstract
This article identifies some key factors shaping the micro-enterprise sector in urban French West Africa. Drawing on interviews with micro-entrepreneurs and micro-finance practitioners in Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Togo, the study explores the needs, characteristics, motivations, and success factors for micro-entrepreneurship in the region, together with some of the impediments to the growth and success of micro-enterprise ventures. It was found that those operating micro-enterprises in the informal economy are entrepreneurs principally by necessity, and that their most basic needs tend to drive their business activities and behaviours. It was also observed that their success was constrained by a number of barriers, including poor access to capital, poor training, and general aversion to risk. As a result, the development of the micro-enterprise sector in urban French West Africa has been sub-optimal, and the authors conclude that this situation may persist unless broader economic and social barriers are addressed.
Acknowledgements
This report was made possible with the financial support of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) as part of the 2003 CIDA Awards Program for Canadians.
Notes
1. Perceived level of success and growth was a subjective measure, derived from questions in the standard interview in which respondents were asked to rank the success and level of growth of their enterprises on a 10-point scale. The responses were converted into a single measure of ‘perceived level of success and growth’, ranging from 1 to 10.
2. In a previous paper, the concept of ‘development’ was defined as ‘[t]he balanced growth of social, environmental and economic value leading to an equitable and sustainable increase in quality of life’ (Roy Citation2003).
3. The term ‘sustainable local enterprise network’ (SLE Network) has been coined to describe the apparently successful development impacts of mixed clusters of small businesses and their community and other networks (Wheeler et al. Citation2004).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Marc-André Roy
Marc-André Roy is a consultant with CPCS Transcom, an international transport-sector development firm based in Ottawa, Canada.
David Wheeler
David Wheeler is Dean of the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University. The Faculty has a holistic and values-based approach to management education and research, and its four Schools are united by the philosophy of ‘Management Without Borders’.