The driving force behind the successful entrepreneurial achievements of the Igbo ethnic nationality in Southeastern Nigeria has been revealed.
This followed years of painstaking research findings on the major factors behind the successful entrepreneurial acumen of the Igbo merchants in their quest to carve a niche for themselves in the business and commerce sectors of the Nigerian economy.
Eze Simpson Osuagwu, a multifaceted academic and researcher in his academic treatise after many years of findings in his study entitled; “The Igbo Entrepreneurship System: A Model for Stakeholder Capitalism”, revealed this to a panel of senior academics at the Centre for the Study of African Economies at St. Catherine’s College, University of Oxford, United Kingdom.
He said, “The study finds a relationship between culture and economic development, using the case of the Igbos of Southeastern Nigeria.”
Osuagwu disclosed that “this study draws a sample of 2,000 entrepreneurs across Nigeria, including Aba, Onitsha, Nnewi, Lagos and Abuja, to ascertain if there is a significant difference between the entrepreneurs who passed through the traditional apprenticeship system and those who did not.”
He explained, “The study employs a Propensity Score Matching Technique to analyse the data and answer the research questions: whether the Igbo apprenticeship model affects business growth and survivability; the role of family on the success of the Igbo enterprise, and whether societal culture has a significant effect on entrepreneurial development.”
The outcome of the study, according to him, “finds a significant relationship in all the hypotheses,” noting that “apprenticeship training enhances weekly revenue, that a business inherited from family has more years of survival, and an entrepreneur who received financial settlement froma mentor has more start-up capital.”
He submits that “these findings underscore the importance of the Igbo traditional apprenticeship system in promoting value-creation for shared prosperity, which is a major tenet of stakeholder capitalism.”
He explained that ‘Stakeholder Capitalism is a concept that promotes the interest of the members of a community, workers, and consumers inclusive,” adding that “at the turn of the 21st century, scholars are beginning to argue that traditional capitalism leaves little room for ethical consideration; focuses on value-capture rather than value-creation.”
“Traditional capitalism entails a competitive market controlled by the forces of demand and supply and driven by the insatiability of wants. To this end, the pursuit of self-interest and the desire to reap enormous profit from invested resources hampers the moral angle of prosperity.
“Rather than focusing on individuals competing for limited resources in a capitalist system, stakeholder capitalism focuses on individuals in a voluntary relationship to create value for a sustainable business environment.
“Igbos have imbibed this culture of mutually beneficial trade in the pursuit of business relationships. Instead of competing for limited resources, they cooperate with one another to share the limited resources for value creation and sustainable entrepreneurial development
“This study is an addition to the existing literature in this area of research and contributes to knowledge through empirical cues,” he stressed.
Dating back to the 18th century, Osuagwu recalled that the eras of Olaudah Equiano, James Beale Horton, 19th century, Sir Louis Odimegwu Ojukwu, 20th century to the present day of Innocent Chukwuma, and many others in the current regime of the Igbo business Moguls sustaining that all-important sense of industry.
Taking a cursory look at the educational trajectory that informed Eze Simpson Osuagwu, beaming his searchlight into the entrepreneurial and business success of the Igbo race, one could easily decipher the foundation of education, the necessary enabler propelling the researcher.
He studied Economics at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia, in the United States.
He earned double doctorate degrees in Economics and Public Policy, and over thirty years of teaching and learning across developed and developing countries.
At the last count, he has earned over eleven university degrees across several disciplines, Statistics, Economics, Business Administration, Law and was called to the Nigerian Bar as a Barrister and Solicitor. He was a Lecturer in Economics at the University of Lagos and Covenant University from 2000 to 2010 and 2016 to 2019, respectively.
He is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the International Institute for Development Studies in Wilmington, Delaware, United States and an International Visiting Professor at Covenant University.
He has attended conferences at the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC, and Oxford University, United Kingdom, where he presented papers.
He is a certified Sustainable Development expert by the World Bank Group.
He has published extensively in reputable international journals. His field of specialisation includes Industrial Organisation, Econometrics, Financial and Development Economics, and Public Policy and Economic Analysis of Law.