Re-imagining the complexities faced by rural entrepreneurs in South Africa: Implications for local economic development in the post COVID-19 pandemic period

Rural entrepreneurs play a critical role in generating economic activities and general development of rural economy. However, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has left extensive upheaval in rural entrepreneurship which cannot be emphasised. As a result, there is growing interest in the potential of rural entrepreneurs to recover from and adapt to the challenges stemming from COVID-19 pandemic. The significant challenges caused by pandemic pose threat to success of rural entrepreneurship initiatives. While there are various desktop studies that uncover challenges encountered by rural entrepreneurs prior to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, surprisingly there is lull of comprehensive desktop study in respect of the complexities faced by rural entrepreneurs during and in the aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic. As such, this offers a rich ground for this study to explore challenges faced by rural entrepreneurs in the post COVID-19 period in South Africa. The study utilised literature research approach in which the researcher gathers data from journal articles, conference papers, reports and manages all the relevant research material. The results indicated various constraints faced by rural entrepreneurs during and post COVID-19 pandemic era. Information about the challenges caused by COVID-19 pandemic is useful for sound management, development of adaptation strategies for rural entrepreneurship and policy making by the government, thereby reducing costs and failure rates of the current and would-be rural entrepreneurs.

Automated summary

Rural entrepreneurs play a critical role in the development of rural economy, but the recent COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant disruptions to their activities. The lack of comprehensive research on the challenges faced by rural entrepreneurs during and after the pandemic creates an opportunity for this study to explore the specific constraints in the South African context. The findings of this study are valuable for management, policy-making, and the development of adaptation strategies for rural entrepreneurship in order to reduce costs and failure rates.