Factors Influencing Entrepreneurship in the South African Construction Industry

Abstract

The unemployment rate in South Africa is at its highest and it has been noted that SMMEs are needed to stimulate job creation. The construction industry is a major contributor to the economy with the contracting industry spearheading the absorption of unskilled and skilled labour. The National Development Plan of 2030’s deadline is approaching and its target to reduce employment is far from being reached by various sectors (which include the construction sector) that were earmarked to create jobs. This problem requires an in-depth look at the factors influencing entrepreneurship in the construction industry. A quantitative method was adopted to gather data from over 1000 sampled respondents who were contractors registered with the CIDB. The findings of the study revealed that internal and external factors have an influence on entrepreneurship equally with neither having any significant impact on the success of an entrepreneur but when looked at separately the two external factors that Influence success were access to funding and the supportive environment and the two internal factors were innovation and creativity. The internal and external factors have an equal influence on the reasons why construction companies are formed were. The findings also showed a positive relationship between age and the success of an entrepreneur