Mental triggers and youth entrepreneurship in South Africa and Uganda: A conceptual overview

This review explores and identifies mental triggers that influence youth to pursue entrepreneurship in South Africa and Uganda. These triggers have been grouped into three categories: the environment, entrepreneurship education and personal characteristics. Triggering factors and some salient features under these three categories have been explored and highlighted. Nevertheless, several gaps have been identified, particularly pertaining to how these mental triggers, individually or in conjunction, produce a series of entrepreneurial milestones among young people in South Africa and Uganda. These countries have struggled to scale up youth entrepreneurship despite putting in place elaborate legislative, institutional and strategic frameworks. The reasons put forth to explain this phenomenon include; economic structures, negative mind-sets and poor attitudes of the youth. It is believed that unpacking how mental triggers actually transform young people into successful entrepreneurs, will equip stakeholders responsible for youth entrepreneurship to positively influence mind-sets, decisions and the actions of young people, through creation of environments that promote triggering factors. This will ultimately result in a critical mass of aspiring youth turning into successful entrepreneurs.