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Youth-Entrepreneurship-and-SME-Challenges -Namibia-in-the-COVID-19-Scenario

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Wilfred Isak April at International University of Management
Wilfred Isak April
  • International University of Management
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Abstract

COVID-19 (coronavirus) has significantly affected small-medium enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs in the Republic of Namibia in terms of the massive shift in which all businesses were required to go online or find alternative means to operate or function. Despite the theatrical change, there is a lack of understanding amongst SME owners and entrepreneurs as to what it means to conduct business in the new normal, and thus proper communication channels, with bold leadership need to be followed especially in developing nations such as Namibia, where language barrier and the diversity of people can create challenges. This chapter first reviewed literature that discusses how SME owners/entrepreneurs are dealing with the challenges, followed by an entrepreneurial response Namibians has to implement, brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Twenty Namibian SME owners were interviewed to understanding how they deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Chapter 27
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-6632-9.ch027
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 (coronavirus) has significantly affected small-medium enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs
in the Republic of Namibia in terms of the massive shift in which all businesses were required to go
online or find alternative means to operate or function. Despite the theatrical change, there is a lack of
understanding amongst SME owners and entrepreneurs as to what it means to conduct business in the
new normal, and thus proper communication channels, with bold leadership need to be followed espe-
cially in developing nations such as Namibia, where language barrier and the diversity of people can
create challenges. This chapter first reviewed literature that discusses how SME owners/entrepreneurs
are dealing with the challenges, followed by an entrepreneurial response Namibians has to implement,
brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Twenty Namibian SME owners were interviewed to under-
standing how they deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
INTRODUCTION
Towards the end of 2019, China was the epicenter of the coronavirus (COVID-19). However, the world
was caught by surprise in early 2020 when the novel coronavirus spread across the global sphere (Cortez
and Johnston, 2020). Covid-19 brought with its numerous challenges especially the SMEs which are
critical engines of growth, employment and innovation for most developing economies (Latha and Mur-
thy, 2019). Unlike previous viruses which were easier to contain as they were geographically specific,
such as the SARS in Northern Asia and MERS in the middle East, this new form of coronavirus easily
splurges to the other parts of the globe (World Health Organisation, 2020). This has indeed changed the
way business is conducted across nations in the world as most of the national, regional and international
borders has been closed (shutdown) (Alon et al., 2020).
Youth Entrepreneurship
and SME Challenges:
Namibia in the COVID-19 Scenario
Wilfred Isak Aibs April
University of Namibia, Namibia
572
Youth Entrepreneurship and SME Challenges
In Namibia, the way people view business or entrepreneurship has also changed tremendously.
There are a number of natural disasters such as bushfires, floods, tsunamis, earthquakes and extensive
drought that business owners are mostly familiar with, but a health crisis such as Covid-19 has affected
society worldwide beyond what they could possibly imagine. Zooming back exactly ten decades ago
from 1918-1920 the Spanish flu pandemic has hit the world very hard (Kraus et al., 2020). This has
actually resulted in a number of nations adopting new health regulations and the conditions of work,
however developing nations such as Namibia, who were almost non-existent in those years are indeed
ill prepared for such changes.
Other worldwide crisis’s such as September 11 in 200, as a result of terrorist attack in the United
States of America (USA), had a major economic impact, but the impact of COVID-19 both in terms of
health and working conditions/ entrepreneurship is insurmountable. Prior to COVID-19 working from
home could easily be viewed as a luxury and if one would have advocated for it in developing nations
such as Namibia, it was almost impossible or frown upon. However, today and in the future conducting
business following social distancing guidelines appears to be the new normal. People are forced to work
from home, as the cost of living has increased and to sustain a family is a great effort (Otache, 2020).
Working from home has even become more important, if you do not have medical aid and is also scared
to catch the virus. Although the disease broke out in China, Namibia has recorded 12, 460 cases of which
10 609 has recovered. The first Namibian case was recorded on March 13, 2020: with Romanian couple
who travelled to Namibia at that time. The total number of deaths till date are 133.
Given Namibia’s small population there is no denying that the pandemic has brought hardships for
the Namibian people as they have lost their jobs. Various sectors of the economy have been impacted.
These are education, banking, sports, agriculture, aviation, transportation and hospitality to name a few.
In addition, this pandemic has forced people from travelling abroad to conduct business or study and
also cancellations on hotel and travel (Otache, 2020). The primary objective of this chapter is to discuss
the impact of Covid 19 on young entrepreneurs in Namibia. In addition, the chapter intends to explore
remedial actions, as to how Namibia can deal with COVID-19.
The symptoms of COVID- 19 are fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, running nose amongst
many others (Harapan et al., 2020). It is a highly communicable disease (Adnan et al., 2020) and the
mode of transmission is from person to person. This unprecedented virus is mostly transferred through
respiratory droplets released when an infected person coughs or sneezes (Harapan et al., 2020). There is
no definite cure for the virus at this point in time, but hygiene habits such as the washing of hands, wear-
ing of face masks and covering of the mouth with a handkerchief when coughing or sneezing is strongly
recommended to contain the spread of the virus (Ohia et al., 2020). This chapter will first give a brief
overview of the Republic of Namibia, followed by the challenges Namibian SME owner/entrepreneurs
face as a result of this pandemic. Thereafter, an entrepreneurial response to the COVID-19 crises will
be highlighted. This will be followed by a discussion on the research methodology and discussion of the
findings. Managerial implications for practice will also be outlined, followed by suggestions for future
research and conclusion. The next section of this chapter will give a brief overview of the Republic of
Namibia.
Background on the Republic of Namibia
It is critical to place this chapter in the context of Namibia, as the challenges which is experienced by
this nation which gained independence three decades ago due to Covid-19 is very unique. The Republic
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