Africa: Land of Entrepreneurial and Business Opportunity (P02931)

? Credit Points : 10 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : SBE-P-ALEBO

Although ?globalisation? is, by definition, a world wide phenomenon, in practice most discussion focuses on Europe, North America and Asia. Sub-Saharan Africa receives little attention, as it is often assumed that poverty levels and lack of development make this large continent (with the possible exception of South Africa) a poor source of business opportunities. The course hopes to remedy this by demonstrating the business potential of Africa and how African entrepreneurs have exploited and are exploiting this potential.

Entry Requirements

none

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Common Courses (School of Business and Economics), (School of Business and Economics, Schedule H)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : Postgraduate

? Delivery Period : Semester 2 (Blocks 3-4)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Monday	16:10	18:00	Central

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

(a) Knowledge and understanding
By the end of the course, students will be expected to:
? Demonstrate an understanding of the economic and entrepreneurial potential of sub-Saharan Africa for African entrepreneurs.
? Have gained knowledge of entrepreneurship theory and how it can be adopted to predict business growth trends in African economies
? Have attained understanding of the nature of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs in Africa, and how African entrepreneurs succeed in creating wealth in a variety of contexts.
? Have gained an appreciation of the heterogeneity of Africa, in particular of differences in framework conditions that can affect the nature of business opportunities.
(b) Intellectual and transferable skills
There are no standard textbooks for the course, as there has been little research on the positive aspects of African entrepreneurship and of the potential of Africa as a source of business opportunities. Hence the students themselves will have to research much of this information. By the end of the course, students will thus be expected to:
? Demonstrate ability to acquire and analyse data and information, to evaluate their relevance and validity, and to synthesise a range of information sources needed to develop a sophisticated understanding of African entrepreneurship
? Cultivate a critical attitude to prevailing interpretations of African conditions, particularly those which uncritically stress chronic poverty and problems inhibiting capital accumulation.
? Demonstrate an ability to work in teams and to effectively conduct research in small groups.
? Be able to advance reasoned and factually supported arguments in written work and oral presentation.
? Enhance their proficiency in searching information using different media, eg. Internet and libraries
? Enhance their time management and planning skills

Assessment Information

The student presentations and groups projects will be assessed (10% of the marks for presentations and 30% for the group project). There will also be an individual assignment counting for 60% of the marks. There will be no exams.