Ayantunji Gbadamosi
Entrepreneurship has long been recognised as a key driving force in the global economy. This significance is evident in the growing number of Small and Medium Sized enterprises across various countries of the world. For example, in the UK and most other developed countries, this type of business accounts for not les than 90% as a proportion of the total number of business organisations. Hence, SMEs play crucial roles in the development of the UK economy as indicated by several widely available statistics. Consequently, this development also directs our attention to an important relevant phenomenon- Ethnic minority owned businesses.
In developed countries such as the UK and the US, immigration has successfully opened a very robust platform for discussion of ethnic minority businesses. So, concepts like multiculturalism, acculturation, and social inclusion are becoming increasingly relevant to the society as well as to entrepreneurship. To be specific, the scale of entrepreneurship quest of ethnic minority groups in the UK is considerable. While there are many ethnic minority groups in the country, the attention in this article is focused on African-Caribbean in relation to their membership of Pentecostal faith-based organisations.
Although a lot has been written about the link between faith and entrepreneurship in the literature, this article looks into a specific thriving religious group in the UK – Pentecostal movements. There is a marked growth in the number of Black Pentecostal churches in the UK in terms of scale and significance with thousands located in various places across the country. Invariably, there are many factors that could be used to describe the functioning of these organisations, but it is noteworthy to highlight the significance of trust and togetherness that exist among their members. Hence, the possibility of opportunities for networking in the membership is very strong. Owing to their common spiritual credence, expectedly, members relate more freely among themselves than with those outside the groups, and their trust for Ministers as the spiritual leaders remain extremely strong.
Accordingly, many members of these faith-based organisations have been exploring the opportunities inherent in these networks in their various entrepreneurial endeavours including like estate agency, trading, and several other miscellaneous services. Interestingly, some of these churches are not only encouraging members to embrace entrepreneurship, but also constantly organise seminars and workshops geared towards sensitising willing members to entrepreneurial opportunities that exists in their societies. Hence, through these efforts, it could be stated that they play key roles as a body of stakeholders in the British economy.
With this development and the trend in entrepreneurship among the African Caribbean members of these faith -based organisations, it is logical to pre-empt the likely question of whether Christianity should actually be geared towards entrepreneurship, especially as the latter is ultimately aimed at creating wealth. This is especially so as some believe that Christianity should be mainly about love for spirituality devoid of materialism. Therefore, for people in this school of thought, embracing entrepreneurship by members of Christian faith, or promoting it by the faith-based organisations would appear as a step too far which is encapsulated in the Holy Bible (I Timothy 6: 10) that ‘For the love of money is the root of all evil’. Hence, the underpinning creed in this perspective is that Christianity should be rooted mainly in Crucifixion, resurrection, and associated atonement of sin. Invariably, this line of thought might perceive Christianity as clearly incongruent with entrepreneurship.
Although a number of factors could be pinpointed as responsible for the monumental increase in the number of people with interest in entrepreneurship among this group of people, a recent study (Nwankwo and Gbadamosi, 2009) found that most of these individuals are using the platform of their religious belief and faith-based organisations not only to justify their entrepreneurial quest but also to define their entrepreneurship orientation and identity. This involves a meticulous attempt to debunk the claim that entrepreneurship and faith are incongruous. Among the several biblical passages relied upon as providing them with strong conviction of God’s support of entrepreneurial endeavours is III John 2 which states that, Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth’. Similarly, Deuteronomy 8, 17-18, states that ‘And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shall remember the Lord they God, for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto they fathers, as it is this day’.
Hence, they contend that while the main goal of Christianity is about acknowledging God and making heaven, God is not against wealth as he has willingly given believers power to prosper. Hence, from this perspective, entrepreneurship is a way of benefiting from God’s promise of prosperity, and the trust and web of networks in these organisations provide very promising avenue for successful business transactions in the form of patronage for their businesses and a variety of business support.
There are some noteworthy implications of this phenomenon. Although as highlighted earlier, business start-ups are increasing among these African-Caribbean in relation to the web of links and strong bond that exist among the members and leaders of these Pentecostal movements, it makes sense to suggest that the trend should be encouraged and sustained. Hence, it appears logical to state that several bodies with interest in encouraging entrepreneurship could use this avenue to organise skill-enhancing and various other relevant support programmes through these organisations to complement this emerging phenomenon. More specifically, given the existence of some institutional constraints and obstacles associated with growing and sustaining business start-ups of people of this ethnic minority as highlighted in a study of Nwankwo et al. (2009), this movement could as well be used as a platform through which this group of entrepreneurs could be reached for support and various intervention programmes that is available from the mainstream support agencies. By and large, this will not only increase employment but will also contribute significantly to the economy both in the UK and globally.
Dr Ayantunji Gbadamosi, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Royal Docks Business School, University of East London