Entrepreneurship as a Path to National Development

TL;DR
When I was a boy, business meant selling groundnuts, exchanging a goat for sorghum, or carrying a jerrycan for a small coin. No one called it “entrepreneurship.” It was simply survival. Later, I learned that entrepreneurship is bigger than buying and selling. It is solving problems, creating value, and building something that continues after you are gone.

Nations are not built only by politicians and donors. They are moved forward by ordinary people who see problems and dare to fix them. A woman who starts a small mill, a young man who repairs phones, a writer who turns stories into books for income, all of them carry the country forward in quiet ways. When thousands think like that, national development stops being a slogan and becomes daily work.

From Groundnuts And Goats To “Entrepreneurship”

As a child, my classroom of business was the market, not a business school.

I watched my grandmother sit with a small pile of groundnuts, shading her eyes from the sun. To her, this was not “a startup,” it was the difference between children eating or going to bed hungry. If you told her she was an entrepreneur, she would have laughed and said, “No, my son, I am just trying to feed you people.”

Sometimes we sold simple things. Firewood. Groundnuts. Small fish. Sometimes a family would exchange a goat for a sack of sorghum. Nobody used big English words. But looking back, I see entrepreneurship everywhere in those memories.

We were not playing with theories, we were trading with hunger.

What Entrepreneurs Really Do For A Nation

Many people look to politicians, donors, and UN conferences when they think about national development. Those have their place. But the hidden engine of any country is its entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurs:

1. Create jobs, not slogans
   They employ people who would otherwise sit idle or depend on handouts. A small workshop that hires three young men removes three potential recruits for crime or conflict.
2. Introduce new ways of doing things
   From improved stoves to mobile money, entrepreneurs bring fresh methods to old problems. They reduce waste, save time, and open fresh paths for others.
3. Turn resources into value
   Where others see bush, they see land for tomatoes or honey. Where others see scrap metal, they see stoves or tools. They move a country from wealth begging to wealth building.

A nation without entrepreneurs is like a body without blood. It may have bones and skin, but it cannot move.

A Market Lesson I Never Forgot

One day in a local market, I met a young man who had turned scrap metal into opportunity. He was building efficient stoves from old oil drums and metal offcuts. His stoves used less firewood than the imported ones and cost less.

I watched mothers queue to buy from him. Some paid slowly, in parts. Others brought small bundles of cash saved over many days. They were not buying “products.” They were buying relief from the high cost of charcoal and firewood. They were buying time and safety for their children.

That young man was not on TV. He had never spoken at a workshop. But he was:

Saving trees.
Saving money for families.
Building a business that could grow.

If you ask me, that single metal worker did more for development that week than ten political conferences that ended with long statements and no change.

From “Who Will Employ Me?” To “Who Can I Employ?”

One of the biggest obstacles in our countries is the mindset that success equals a secure job, preferably in government or with an international organization.

I have heard this many times.
“I just want a job in the ministry.”
“I want UN work. They do not fire people.”

I once asked a young man what he wanted to do after graduation. He answered without thinking, “I want to be employed by the United Nations.” When I asked why, he said, “Because they do not fire people.” We both laughed, but inside I thought, if everyone dreams only of safety, who will take risks to build the future?

Entrepreneurship asks a different question.
Instead of “Who will employ me?” it asks, “Who can I employ?”

That one question can shift an entire generation. It turns victims into builders, spectators into players.

In my own life, I moved from dreaming about secure NGO jobs to creating income from books, courses, and digital services. When I published my first book on a secondhand laptop that froze like an old man in winter, I was not just writing. I was entering the world of entrepreneurship. I was learning to think like a creator, not only a consumer.

The Enemies Of Entrepreneurship

Let us be honest. Starting something in our setting is not easy. Entrepreneurs face many enemies, some outside, some inside.

1. Corruption
   Licenses that should be simple become a maze of signatures. A small bribe here, another there. Many young traders give up before they even open a shop.
2. Lack of capital
   Great ideas die in notebooks because banks want collateral that poor families do not have. The risk is pushed entirely on the shoulders of the young.
3. Fear of failure
   Society often mocks those whose businesses collapse. People whisper, “He tried to be clever and failed.” We rarely say, “He had courage. What can we learn from his attempt?”
4. Short term thinking
   Some people chase quick profit and abandon ventures that need time to grow. They prefer a fast deal today to a steady enterprise that could feed families for years.

I have faced some of these. Book sales that did not move. Websites that few visited. Projects that consumed time and money but did not return what I hoped. Each time I had two choices: quit and blame the country, or see it as tuition fees for my next lesson.

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How Entrepreneurs Build Nations, Sector By Sector

Entrepreneurship is not limited to shops and offices. It can reshape every key area of life.

1. Agriculture
   A farmer who tries improved seeds, irrigation, or better storage becomes an entrepreneur. If many farmers think like that, hunger reduces and exports increase.
2. Technology
   A youth who repairs phones, designs websites, or builds useful apps is not “just playing with computers.” He or she is connecting villages to markets, teachers to students, and patients to doctors.
3. Education
   Private schools, tutoring centers, and online courses created by local minds can raise the skills of a whole generation. My own online learning through platforms like Alison changed my thinking and helped me serve better.
4. Health
   Clinics, pharmacies, and lab services run by honest entrepreneurs save lives where government systems are weak. When Yo’ Care South Sudan runs services in remote areas, you can see how organized effort can fill gaps that would otherwise swallow lives.

National development is not one big project. It is many small, steady efforts that keep showing up.

My Journey As A Writer Entrepreneur

When I published my first book, I had no marketing team, no grant, and no office. Just a stubborn dream, a slow laptop, and poor internet.

I formatted the book myself. Designed simple covers. Uploaded files while the power blinked off and on. Sometimes the device crashed and I had to start again. When the first small royalty came in from somewhere far away, I sat quietly for a long moment.

A boy who grew up in war and hunger had just been paid for his thoughts.

Since then, writing has become part of my entrepreneurial path. Books, articles, coaching, and digital products are my way of turning experience into value. I do not say this to boast. I say it to show that entrepreneurship is not only about shops and big buildings. It can also be about words, ideas, and teaching.

A Vision For South Sudan As An Innovation Home

I dream of a South Sudan where the word “youth” is not always followed by “unemployed,” but by “innovator,” “farmer,” “builder,” “designer.”

Imagine:

1. Solar powered villages installed and maintained by local teams.
2. Mobile apps in mother tongues teaching children to read and count.
3. Honey, gum arabic, fish, and other products leaving our borders as exports, not entering as imports.
4. Women leading cooperatives that turn small savings into serious capital.

This is not fantasy for rich countries only. I have seen hints of it already in small workshops, local markets, and quiet computer labs. The seed is there. It needs water, protection, and time.

Practical Steps To Encourage Entrepreneurship

No single person or institution can do everything, but each can do something. Here are practical steps.

1. Reform education
   Teach children how to solve problems, not only how to memorize. Include basic business skills, savings, and creativity in the curriculum.
2. Improve access to finance
   Governments, banks, churches, and NGOs can create fair small loan programs and savings groups that trust character as well as collateral.
3. Celebrate risk takers
   Tell the stories of those who tried and failed, then tried again. Put such people on panels and in classrooms. Let youth see that failure is a step, not a curse.
4. Build partnerships
   Entrepreneurs should not work alone. They can share ideas, join cooperatives, and partner with communities so that profit and progress move together.
5. Expand technology access
   Support community internet centers, training in basic ICT, and affordable devices. A connected mind can reach customers and knowledge far beyond the village.

A Final Story: A Freezing Laptop And A Long Vision

When I wrote my first full manuscript, my laptop behaved like an old man with asthma. Each time I opened too many files, it froze. I joked that even my sneezing could crash it.

Still, that weak machine and I continued.

When the book finally reached readers in other countries, I realized something important. The distance between my small room and the world had shrunk. Entrepreneurship had given me a bridge.

That experience taught me this: entrepreneurship is not about starting the next billion dollar company. It is about taking what you already have, however small, and using it to create value for others. When enough citizens do that day after day, no matter how hard the road, national development stops being a dream. It becomes our routine.

If you would like to know more about my path as a writer, including the struggles, lessons, and small signs of progress along the way, you can read the full story on my Wealthy Affiliate blog here: https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/johnmaluth/blog

Reflection Questions

1. Do you see yourself more as a job seeker or a job creator right now, and why?
2. What simple problem in your community could be addressed by a small business or project?
3. How could your government or local leaders make it easier for honest small businesses to grow?
4. What failures in your past could become lessons that prepare you for a better venture?
5. If most young people in your country chose to start something of their own, what might change in 20 years?

FAQS

1. What is the difference between entrepreneurship and ordinary buying and selling?
   Buying and selling alone can be simple trading. Entrepreneurship goes further. It looks for problems to solve, adds creativity, plans for growth, and builds systems so that a small idea can keep expanding and serving more people.
2. Can everyone become an entrepreneur?
   Not everyone will start a business, and that is fine. But many more people can think in an entrepreneurial way. They can look for better methods, take initiative, and create value where they are, whether they are self employed or working for someone else.
3. How can entrepreneurship grow in a country with conflict and weak systems?
   Even in hard settings, people still need food, health, transport, and communication. Small, local enterprises can meet those needs. Over time, these efforts create jobs, skills, and networks that make the country stronger from the ground up, even while larger systems slowly improve.
4. What should governments do to support entrepreneurs?
   Governments can simplify registration processes, reduce corruption, provide fair access to small loans, invest in infrastructure like roads and internet, and protect property rights. They can also include entrepreneurship in education so that young people see it as a real path, not a last option.
5. I tried a business and it failed. Should I try again?
   Failure hurts, but it does not mean you are finished. Many successful entrepreneurs failed several times before finding a model that worked. The key is to learn from what went wrong, adjust your plan, start smaller if needed, and surround yourself with people who give honest advice, not only criticism.