ABSTRACT
African entrepreneurs operate in diverse environments and face a multiplicity of challenges. The downward revision reflects a more challenging external environment, continued output disruptions in oil-exporting countries, and weaker-than-anticipated growth in South Africa. The challenging economic environment provides a mixed bag of opportunities and constraints. Sociocultural factors shape the environment in which entrepreneurs develop and operate. Rising urbanization, dramatic increases in number of educated and unemployed youth, increasing sophistication of consumers, etc. are all creating market environments that are almost paradoxical in their features. Africa's technological environment poses challenges as well as provides significant opportunities. African entrepreneurs face very challenging macro-environments that substantially impact both opportunities and risks. The negative side of this is the generation of large amounts of plastic waste that many of the countries are unable to deal with satisfactorily, leading to horrendous unsanitary environment conditions.
