ENTREPRENEURIAL ENVIRONMENT AND PERFORMANCE IN NIGERIA (A CASE STUDY OF EMZOR PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY LAGOS)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The Nigerian entrepreneurial environment had been in existence since the colonial era and it was predominantly by the colonial masters. It was aer Nigeria got her independence that the Nationals started clamoring for indigenization. This led to the period where the Nationals got involved in the business sector and this gave birth to entrepreneurship. The Nigerian entrepreneurial environment has not been conducive for entrepreneur to tap into judging by the current level of unemployment which should be nerve-racking for Nigeria’s leaders. A business does not operate in a vacuum. Normally, a business operates in a multi faced environment. The environment itself is subject to a large degree of change. The ailiation
between business and its environment is one of mutuality: that is, the environment exerts hassle on the business while the business, in turn, influences some aspects of its environment. The nature of the environment in which the business enterprise operates therefore needs to be clearly understood by managers. (ICAN, 2009). The relationship between entrepreneurship performance and the entrepreneurial environment has been given attention in the last few decades. The
Nigerian business environment has been evaluated and assessed by several scholars and several suggestions have been recommended but there has been no visible change, particularly in the area of unemployment in the country .A recent survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2011 showed that overall unemployment rate increased from 21.4 per cent in 2010 to 23.9 per cent in 2011. Further analysis showed that the unemployment rate in rural and urban areas was 25.6 and 17.1 per cent respectively. People who are less than 14 years constituted 39.6 per cent while those between 15 and 64 years
constituted 56.3 per cent. (National Bureau, 2012). A entrepreneurial environment comprises of such factors as infrastructure, cultural, economic, social and political environments. These environmental forces have been found to be capable of either impeding or facilitating entrepreneurial activities in any economy. The World Bank is of the opinion that improvements in the enabling environment leads to greater levels of investment by the private sector, more wealth, job creation, and ultimately more poverty alleviation. The best way for government to understand how to improve the enabling environment is to involve the private sector through consultation and dialogue and, in particular, to understand and address the private sector’s needs and priorities as they are actively involved in nation’s building. Entrepreneurial development has continued to be a popular concept in the world due to its leading role as catalyst for nation’s growth and economic development. Entrepreneurship globally, can boast of being a major employer of labour if compared to major industries
and multinationals (Kadiri, 2011).
