We encourage you to propose a contribution in one of the formats listed below.Deadline for abstract submission is now 30 April 2021

The continued high levels of unemployment and poverty across sub-Saharan Africa has boosted the championing of enterprise development as one of the activities to lift these countries out of the doldrums. Consequently, new directions for supporting the enterprise development environment where Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) operate continue to be explored in Africa. Enterprise Development is the act of investing time and capital in helping people establish, expand or improve their businesses. However, at the heart of the difficulties facing these SMEs, particularly in urban areas, are a complex of factors around their continued inability to access market opportunities, lack of access to finance/ /credit and of delivery failings in the support environment. Thus, issues to be covered in this sub-theme include:

Covid-19 has challenged the world precisely Africa, to re-imagine its university systems. Perhaps, it is time universities systems that request for several articles and publications from its key stakeholders before promotion, gave way to looking at how many entrepreneurial graduates these key stakeholders produce within a given students’ cohort duration. One of the prime panaceas to ensuring universities produce more entrepreneurial graduates and even transform themselves into an entrepreneurial university is entrepreneurship education. The European Union indicates that, entrepreneurship education has the mandate to equip the youth with functional knowledge and skill to build up their character, attitude, and vision for life. It has a vital role in developing an eco-system that promotes innovation. It must be highlighted that entrepreneurship is not just a venture creation process as it has been perceived; its essence goes beyond contemporary times with maturity and serves as an agent of change. It is universal and is reflected in all major dimensions of social, political, and economic benefits across the globe. However, there remains a longstanding debate within the university sector regarding the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education. This conference aspires to share more limelight on entrepreneurship education through the following:

The consumer goods and food processing industry are a complex, global collective of diverse businesses that supplies most of the food and goods consumed by the world’s population. The industry today has become highly diversified, with consumer goods and manufacturing ranging from small, traditional, family-run activities that are highly labour-intensive, to large, and capital-intensive. For example, consumer demand for new foods and changes in eating habits and food safety risks are affecting the food processing industry. The population is becoming older on average; moreover, consumers want fresh and minimally processed foods without synthetic chemical preservatives. To address the need for safer food and compete for consumer acceptance, manufacturers are exploring new food processing and preservation methods. The following are some of the issues to be covered under this sub-theme:

Tourism continues to be a key driver for job creation and economic growth in most emerging economies throughout the world. Africa’s unique history and endowed natural resources continues to attract both local and foreign tourist. This development therefore presents African countries a great opportunity to become a key force in attracting tourists, investors and entrepreneurs which when harnessed well will drive employment and boost economic growth. It has been estimated that consumer spending on tourism, hospitality and recreation in Africa is projected to reach over 260 billion dollars in 2030. These developments present African countries with great opportunities to explore. These potentials can be well explored to the benefit of the continent when needed attention is given to the sector. However, not all the African countries have been able to project themselves well to benefit from these potentials. This calls for attention on how countries can explore these opportunities to the benefit of their respective countries.

For this theme, we welcome practical, theoretical and empirical research on how African countries can harness the opportunities presented in the tourism sector. Research that identifies positive, meaningful and implementable solutions on how African countries can explore the opportunities in the tourism sector are actively encouraged. Papers may be submitted in or around the following thematic areas:

The importance of universities in any given economy cannot be over emphasized. Through activities such as teaching and research, universities develop human capital and generate new knowledge that underpin innovation. These outputs can only become relevant to socio-economic development through use. Thus, collaborations between universities and industry are crucial to ensuring the smooth transfer of technology and knowledge from universities to stakeholders who can apply them to their advantage (Archibugi & Fillipetti, 2017). Nevertheless, several studies highlight existing gaps between academia and industry; a gap which can be bridged through applied research and teaching (Smell and Packard, 2019). Applied research and teaching is action driven and places emphasis on problem solving. Therefore, interactions between universities and industry through applied research and teaching can ensure that there is a fit between the outputs of university activities and the demands of
industry thereby making it more relevant. To date, there have been significant interests in investigating university industry collaborations and the role of applied research and teaching in this space. However, there are still limitations in the state of literature on the topic (Ankrah & Al-Tabbaa, 2015); hence the motivation for this sub-theme. This sub-theme will discuss the following issues:

Development in the global arena facilitated by technological advancement implies that digital competencies are essential for everyone. The acquisition and application of digital competencies are necessary for people to fit well into society. In the case of businesses, it is an antidote to reducing waste and being competitive. The technological revolution has transformed the type and nature of businesses start-ups and influenced corporate restructuring – from physical to digital businesses. Developing digital entrepreneurs requires digital training pedagogy. E-learning provides the basis for acquiring digital competencies necessary for digital entrepreneurship. The focus of digital entrepreneurship is the application of digital technologies and collective intelligence to reshape the entrepreneurial process. The session covers issues of the impact of technological innovation on entrepreneurship and venture creation. It highlights the relevance of e-learning as a foundation for digital entrepreneurial skills acquisition and practice. Topics to be covered here include but not limited to:

The SDG goal 12 requires global supply chains to proactively adopt innovative practices such as waste recycling, green marketing, extended producer responsibility, cutting down consumption of non-renewable energy sources and adoption of triple bottom line reporting. By these approaches, business can engineer economic growth decoupled from resource consumption, whiles minimising waste and pollution. This will slow down the depletion of natural capital and preserve sufficient quantities to support future generation to meet their needs. Many small business leaders are integrating sustainability into their corporate strategy. They recognize that firms have key role to play in solving problems for which they have contributed to, while meeting stakeholder expectations. Sustainable business practices help firms to leverage their corporate resources to exploit opportunities brought forth by sustainable development. Sustainable business garner better public image, stakeholder support and gain competitive advantage through differentiation. Issues to be discussed here may include: