Zainab Monisola Olaitan

This book engages with the idea and philosophy of entrepreneurship in Africa from the position of several Indigenous communities in Africa. It advances that there is poverty in the current understanding and implementation of entrepreneurship in Africa, which is couched within a Eurocentric frame. It is argued that far from liberating Indigenous epistemologies toward the creation of sustainable entrepreneurship leading to, among others, socio-economic development, such a Eurocentrically monologous idea of entrepreneurship is limiting and limited. It is now time to transcend the Eurocentric monologue of entrepreneurship to an understanding of how Indigenous communities in various parts of Africa conceptualize and practice entrepreneurship, leading to inclusive and meaningful socio-economic development.

Does the election of more and more women into political offices mean that women’s interests will be better protected? This question forms the background upon which this book is written as it forms a timely intervention concerning the clamour for increased women’s representation in African politics. The book examines the relationship between gender quotas and gender-focused legislative/policy outcomes in the national Parliaments of South Africa and Botswana. By investigating the utility of gender quotas to ensure the substantive representation of women in African politics, the book engages the assumption that increased women’s political participation will automatically improve the qualitative well-being of African women. The book is intended for both academic and non-academic audiences with differing purposes. It contributes to scholarly debates on the transcending relevance of quotas beyond numbers. For non-academics, it provides opportunities to engage gender quotas as a policy tool to ensure the qualitative well-being of African women.