DOI: 10.5176/2010-4804_3.1.287
Authors: Stephen I. Dugguh
Abstract:
Entrepreneurship and small business development, poverty alleviation, wealth creation and corruption are some of the major concerns facing developing economies. This has become a subject of debate among the academics and interest groups at national and global levels. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to make a theoretical assessment of the progress the Nigerian government and the organized private sector have made so far to reduce poverty, increase employment opportunities and create wealth for the citizens through strategic approaches to small business and entrepreneurship development. The paper is descriptive and reviews literature on poverty, small business, entrepreneurship, corruption and the programs initiated by government to stimulate Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMSEs). The activities of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), for example, were assessed. Literature findings indicate that in spite of the huge investment, corruption, ineffective policies, insecurity and so on militate against the growth and development of SMSEs in Nigeria. The paper recommends among others, the judicious use of borrowed funds, intensifying war against corruption by government and international communities, tackling the insecurity challenges, improving the poor state of infrastructure in the country and so on. The paper adds value to knowledge in the sense that it draws a theoretical link between entrepreneurship and small business development and poverty, unemployment and corruption in the Nigerian context.
Keywords: Corruption, Entrepreneurship, Poverty, Small Business, Strategic
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