Obstacles to Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Ghana: An Analysis of Opportunities for Sustainable Development

21 Pages Posted: 30 Jun 2011

See all articles by Christopher Mensah-Bonsu

Christopher Mensah-Bonsu

Technische Universität München (TUM)

Florian Jell

Technische Universität München (TUM)

Date Written: June 30, 2011

Abstract

Worldwide sustainable development is impossible without countries from the third world catching up with more developed economies. Entrepreneurship in these countries would increase innovation and social welfare; however, there are many obstacles along the way that prohibit an entrepreneurial culture from setting foot. In this paper we analyze such obstacles for Ghana, which is representative of many African countries. For that purpose, we conducted 11 interviews with entrepreneurs from Ghana and with experts on the Ghanaian economic situation Our interviews confirm that lacking infrastructure, corruption, limited access to financing, loose regulation, and limited human capital constitute significant obstacles to innovation. Further, we find cases where promising new markets broke down due to the entry of low-quality imitators. We devote a separate section of the article to the analysis of this market-for-lemons-like problem.

Keywords: Ghana, sustainability, entrepreneurship, third world, innovation

Suggested Citation

Mensah-Bonsu, Christopher and Jell, Florian, Obstacles to Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Ghana: An Analysis of Opportunities for Sustainable Development (June 30, 2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1875653 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1875653

Christopher Mensah-Bonsu

Technische Universität München (TUM) ( email )

Arcisstrasse 21
Munich, DE 80333
Germany

Florian Jell (Contact Author)

Technische Universität München (TUM) ( email )

Arcisstrasse 21
Munich, DE 80333
Germany

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