The role of entrepreneurial ecosystems in sustainable local economic development

Anthonia Rwabukwe was a Master of Business Administration (MBA) candidate in the Department of Business Management at the Institute of Accountancy Arusha in Tanzania at the time of conducting the study and contributing to this book. Rwabukwe’s research interests lie primarily in the areas of human capital management, entrepreneurship and strategic management.

Cecile Nieuwenhuizen is a professor in the Department of Higher Education and Training-National Research Foundation (DHET-NRF) South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) Entrepreneurship Education at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. She earned her doctoral degree(PhD) in Business Management from the North-West University (NWU), South Africa. She was awarded the five-year SARChI Entrepreneurship Education Chair in 2019, and she is the recipient of the Doctor Honoris Causa awarded by Kraków University of Economics, Poland, in 2022. Her research interests include entrepreneurship development and education. Nieuwenhuizen is the editor of eight textbooks and has published 50 articles in accredited journals, 43 papers in international conference proceedings, and multiple chapters in 55 books. She has supervised 22 Master’s (MA)students and 10 PhD students to graduation.

Clavis Nwehfor Fubah is a researcher in the Department of Business Management at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He earned his PhD from the University of Pretoria, and his research interests include entrepreneurial ecosystems, immigrant entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, networking and the circular economy. Fubah’s articles have appeared in the Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Business Strategy and The Environment, Journal of Enterprising Communities and The International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research, among others.

Chané de Bruyn is a research fellow at the Centre for Local Economic Development (CENLED) at the College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. She holds a PhD in Economics. She has published numerous peer-reviewed articles ranging from quantitative, qualitative and mixed-method approaches in international and national journals, conference proceedings and book chapters. DeBruyn is a co-editor of the CENLED scholarly book series with AOSIS. Her research focus centres on topics relating to local economic development(LED), development economics, sustainable development and tourism development.

Jean-Marie Mbuya is a lecturer and holds a PhD in Business Management from the Department of Business Management at the School of Management, College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. His research focuses mainly on topics related to entrepreneurship and development, especially in Africa. Mbuya has been a member of the Institute of Management Consultants and Coaches of South Africa since 2021.

Chris Schachtebeck is a professor in the Department of Business Management, DHET-NRF SARChI Entrepreneurship Education at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He earned his PhD in Business Management from the University of Johannesburg. He is a NRF-rated researcher, having been awarded an NRF Y2 rating. Schachtebeck is also the deputy editor of the Scopus-listed journal Acta Commercii and the associate editor of the African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development. He currently supervises a large number of Master’s and PhD students in the area of entrepreneurship.

Kafigi Jeje is a senior lecturer in the Department of Business Management at the Institute of Accountancy Arusha in Tanzania. He is also a research associate in the DHET-NRF SARChI in Entrepreneurship Education Chair at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. He earned his PhD in Management from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Jeje’s research interests lie primarily in the areas of entrepreneurial strategies, growth strategies, innovation and the business environment.

Daniel Francois Meyer is a professor at the College of Business and Economics at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He is an NRF-rated researcher. He is a development economist and a specialist in regional and local economic development analysis and policy development. Meyer has developed various innovative measurement tools, indexes, and scales to analyse regional economies. He has a research focus on macroeconomics and the linkages with good governance. Meyer has authored more than 150internationally peer-reviewed research articles since 2015 and has presented more than 60 international conference papers, including several keynote addresses. His research is multi-disciplinary through the combination of development economics, business, public management and governance.

Daniella Teles Amaral is a lecturer in the Faculty of Management Studies at Varsity College, Sandton, South Africa. She earned her Master’s in Commerce (MCom) degree in Strategic Management from the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Her areas of research interest lie in the fields of entrepreneurship, business management and strategic management. Amaral is also a PhD candidate at the University of Johannesburg.

Lodewikus Janse van Rensburg is a senior lecturer in the Department of Business Management at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Holding a PhD in Personal and Professional Leadership from the same university, he has a strong focus on entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial development, strategy and artificial intelligence. He has conceptualised and implemented the innovative Zero-Startup concept within the Diploma inSmall Business Management programme, which he coordinated from 2012to 2021. He currently leads modules on corporate entrepreneurship and strategy simulation and a Master’s module on urban entrepreneurial dynamics. This advanced module challenges Master’s students to develop plans for disadvantaged communities, fostering an entrepreneurial ecosystem integrated with smart city concepts. Janse van Rensburg’s passion lies in understanding and enhancing the dynamics of entrepreneurship, promoting growth and leveraging emerging technologies in business strategy. His scholarly contributions enrich both academic circles and industry, offering critical insights to aspiring entrepreneurs and business leaders.

Marius Venter is the director of CENLED at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He is responsible for creating a new career path in local economic development (LED). He has successfully completed projects worth ZAR80m to date in LED and entrepreneurship. His achievements include setting up a professional body (Economic Development Council of South Africa [EDCSA]), developing 20 short learning programmes, and a Master’s and a PhD degree programme in LED. Venter is also the director of PASCAL International Observatory Africa, researching various LED-related topics.

Menisha Moos is an associate professor in the Department of Business Management at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. She earned herDoctor of Commerce (DCom) in Business Management from the University of Pretoria. Her research interests include entrepreneurship and small business, specifically focusing on entrepreneurial ecosystems in terms of their different factors, components and actors, entrepreneurship education, youth entrepreneurship and gender entrepreneurship. Moos is a section editor of the Southern African Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management. She has published in national and international journals, acted as a peer reviewer in accredited journals, and supervised Honours, Master’s and PhD students.

Natanya Meyer is a professor in the Department of Business Management in the College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. She is part of the DHET-NRF SARChI Entrepreneurship Education Chair. Her research focuses on entrepreneurial and economic-related topics as well as tourism studies. She has been a member of the South Africa Global Entrepreneurship Monitor team since 2022. Meyer holds a Y2 rating from the South African National Research Foundation (NRF). She is an editor, an editorial board member, a scientific committee member, and a reviewer for several national and international journals.

Niel Kruger is an independent researcher associated with the DHET-NRF SARChI in Entrepreneurship Education in the Department of Business Management at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He earned his PhD in Risk Management from North-West University (NWU), South Africa. He was a former post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Johannesburg, and a recipient of the full NWU Master’s scholarship and full NWU PhD scholarship awarded by NWU in 2016 and 2018, respectively. He has contributed to academic publishing as an associate editor for the GiLE Journal of Soft Skills Development and senior assistant editor for the Journal of Contemporary Management. Kruger has also served as an advisory board member for the GiLE Journal of Soft Skills Management and worked in technology transfer at UJ INV, facilitating academic research commercialisation. He has published 11academic articles, and supervised several Master’s students.

Robyn Goss earned her Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Entrepreneurship from the University of Pretoria, South Africa. She was a business advisor at the Mamelodi Business Hub in the Department of Business Management at the University of Pretoria, which serves the township entrepreneurs’ community.

Thea Tselepis is an associate professor in the College of Business Management, University of Johannesburg, South Africa, serving as the current vice dean for teaching and learning in the same college. She is a former member of the DHET-NRF SARChI Entrepreneurship Education Chair at the same university. She earned her PhD in Consumer Science from the University of Pretoria. Tselepis’s research interest is in the field of design thinking for creatives or businesspeople. She holds an NRF C3-rating, has published over 25 scholarly works, and supervises and mentors staff members, Master’s and PhD candidates in her field.

Vivence Kalitanyi earned his PhD in Management from the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. He is an associate professor at the University of Johannesburg, lecturing on entrepreneurship, operations management, and research methodology. He holds an NRF C-rating, widely publishes articles in accredited journals and book chapters, and supervises Honours Master’s and PhD students. Kalitanyi’s research interests mainly involve entrepreneurship, migrant entrepreneurship and operations management. He is the author of a book and attends national and international conferences to present his research works. He co-authored journal articles and book chapters, and he mentors novice researchers in the Department of Business Management at the University of Johannesburg. Kalitanyi is a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Business and Economics in the 4th Industrial Revolution (JBE4IR).