By Dr Leyland Lucas
Since assuming office, President David Granger has continually discussed the importance of entrepreneurship to the future development of Guyana. On several occasions, he has emphasized two points: One, Entrepreneurship is the way of the future; Two, one cannot rely on the public sector for employment. These points are well founded as global trends and experiences show the prosperity associated with the establishment of new and innovative entities. Even within such countries as Russia and China, with a history of state enterprises and centralized control, one sees how entrepreneurship has flourished. This, further justifies the proposed shift from state employment to private sector employment and new business development for wealth creation and prosperity.
Unfortunately, as we engage in conversations about entrepreneurship, I fear that we may be operating in a ‘field of dreams’ framework. Such a framework is built on the notion ‘Build it and they will come.’ In terms of entrepreneurship, we may be losing an important aspect of that discussion by assuming ‘speak it, and it will happen.’ While the government continues to engage in admirable actions to support the growth of entrepreneurship, such efforts may suffer from the absence of an accommodating ecosystem.
An entrepreneurship ecosystem is comprised of multiple players, each with a different purpose. One of the most important players of an entrepreneurship ecosystem is the government, through its policies. These must be designed to make it easy for entrepreneurs to access public sector systems. Laws should be enacted that help to promote entrepreneurship; regulatory frameworks must be developed to facilitate access to critical information; incentives must be created to support entrepreneurial ventures; and effective enforcement mechanisms must be established. Organizations such as GoInvest and the Small Business Bureau are necessary but not sufficient for entrepreneurship to grow. Ministries of Business, Trade, Communications, and our foreign missions have particularly important roles to play in the development and sustenance of an entrepreneurship ecosystem.
