Can entrepreneurship be the answer to Zimbabwe's unemployment crisis: a case study of Epworth

Abstract

The study highlights the growing dependence on entrepreneurship in the form of the informal sector and its sustainability as a substitute to the formal sector. In Zimbabwe’s current economic situation formal employment has become a luxury with most of society turning to the informal sector for survival. Programs by both government and NGOs have been established to train people to be entrepreneurs as a substitute for formal employment. As a sample, the study is focused on the Epworth community located in the outer sphere of Harare who are vastly affected by the formal employment shortage. The research therefore used the qualitative research method to establish how the people involved in the informal sector felt about their economic activities in order to understand whether or not the sector is sustainable. It was evident that those in the informal sector are mainly focused on survival rather than economic development. This therefore means that for the country to fully depend on the informal sector there is need for more policy development to make informal trading a secure employment avenue rather than a means to end social and economic poverty.