ABSTRACT
Research on the role of entrepreneurs in economic development provides two contrasting positions. The first perceives entrepreneurs as exploring uncharted economic territories, discovering new market niches, providing jobs and improving the general standard of living in their societies. The evidence in Kano and all over Nigeria suggests private entrepreneurs play significant roles towards societal progress. It is worth reiterating that the voluntary diversifications of indigenous entrepreneurs into modern industry show they are rational. Not surprisingly, the performance of indigenous entrepreneurs has become a measuring rod for societal progress. The data in this study confirm that cultural and religious factors play a role in economic behaviour in many ways. Managerial attitudes and recruitment patterns relating to gender in the plastic factories were influenced by cultural and religious factors. Islamic and Hausa economic ethics encourage wealth acquisition, so, on face value, they are essentially capitalistic.
