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SECTION IV
BUSINESS INCUBATORS AND MODELS
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INDIGENOUS BUSINESS INCUBATORS: A FOCUS ON THE AKWETE WEAVING INDUSTRY
Victoria Okafor, Ogechi Adeola and Afam Ituma
ABSTRACT
The Igbos are renowned for their success in business. This chapter traced the pre-colonial and post-colonial innovations among the Igbos to highlight salient factors that could be responsible for their outstanding success in recent times. In the pre-colonial era, the Igbos made their livelihood through vocations such as blacksmithing, traditional medicine, farming, pot moulding, hunting, food preservation, and textiles, especially in cloth weaving. The post-colonial period which witnessed the Nigerian civil war, led to a disruption of their entire business structure. However, through the principles of apprenticeship and hard work, ingredients of success in the pre-colonial years, the Igbos were able to rebuild their business structure and became renowned for their success. They retained some of their pre-colonial crafts such as cloth weaving of which the Akwete fabric is a good example and has gained both national and international prominence in recent times. The chapter presented the case of the Akwete Weaving Centre of Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike Ikwo (AE-FUNAI), established to promote cultural heritage and enhance the entrepreneurial skills of students in the craft through modern apprenticeship. The chapter made recommendations on ways to enhance the Akwete Weaving industry and effectively harness its potentials.
Keywords: Business incubators; indigenous business incubators; textile industry; Akwete fabric; Akwete weaving; apprenticeship
INTRODUCTION
Certain attributes are known to be peculiar to groups or sect in Nigeria, like being business-oriented, industrious, and having entrepreneurial acumen. These identifiable attributes have been observed to be as a result of shared values, norm and culture passed down through generations. The Igbo ethnic group has carved a niche for themselves over the years; they are known to be the most industrious, innovative and one of the richest tribes in Africa (Techpoint Africa, 2018). For instance, the Igbos invented the popular computer village in Ikeja, the capital city of Lagos state, which is known to be the largest IT hub in West Africa (Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, 2006). In Nigeria, the major markets such as the Aba, Nnewi, Lagos and Onitsha markets are dominated by the Igbos. They engage in importation, exportation, manufacturing and local cottage industries in these markets. Furthermore, they are generally known to take up responsibilities and do not wait on the government to feed them, clothe them or build businesses for them. This is said to be the reason for their prosperity over other tribes in Nigeria.
According to a report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (2016), the geopolitical zone in Nigeria with the highest level of human security is the South-East region. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (1994) defined Human Security as protection from persistent threats such as hunger and diseases as well as protection from the unexpected disruption in the pattern of daily life whether jobs, homes or communities. This implies that the south-eastern part of Nigeria has the least prevalence of hunger and disruptions in jobs or homes when compared to other geopolitical zones in Nigeria.
Ekekwe (2019) attributed the economic stability of the Igbo ethnic group to the prevalence of the apprenticeship system embedded in their culture. The Igbo apprenticeship/mentorship system is a semi-formal training scheme in Igboland whereby a young person is attached to a business mentor over a period of 4–6 years or as may be agreed by the mentor and the apprentice. The master/mentor undertakes the responsibility of teaching the apprentice the rudiments and ‘secrets’ of the trade. During this period, the mentor is expected to be responsible for the welfare of the apprentice while the apprentice is expected to serve his/her master diligently. At the end of the agreed period, the master settles the apprentice with a significant amount of money to enable the apprentice to begin his/her own business. Therefore, it can be stated that this mentorship programme has contributed to the socioeconomic development of the south-eastern region in Nigeria.
Based on the foregoing, it is evident that there are prevalent factors that are responsible for the success of the Igbos. These factors have been traced back to their manner of business creativity during the pre-colonial and post-colonial eras.
Pre-colonial Era Innovation among the Igbos
Before the colonial era in Africa, the Igbos expressed their creativity through vocations such as blacksmithing, traditional medicine, farming, pot moulding (pottery), hunting, food preservation, cloth weaving and textile (Akpomuvie, 2011). These systems were adapted by most families, and this helped to create a sense of confidence and relevance amongst them. During those days, though modern technologies were absent, the Igbos practised innovation by using their indigenous resources to their benefits (Ezeudu, Nkokelonye, & Adigwe, 2013).
The apprenticeship system is common among the Igbos right from the pre-colonial era. The Igbos also had a culture of transferring knowledge through this apprenticeship system. For instance, a family can send their young boys and girls to stay with close relations or even family friends who know about certain crafts. Although this entails separating the children from parental care, it is seen as an essential process to help the child take up responsibility and learn viable trades which could determine their level of success in future. The mother prepares for this by packaging food items for them to travel with, and the fathers offer words of wisdom to their children (Akpomuvie, 2011).
The Igbo people were also known to have a tradition of keeping certain crafts in the family which they pass down through generations. For instance, some families are majorly known as blacksmiths, others as sculptors, cloth weavers, others as healers and soap makers. Some families even have unique (secret) strategies that are not known to other families. For centuries, the Igbos continued to be innovative and creative and lived self-sufficiently until the 1900s when the British colonised Nigeria.
Post-colonial Era Innovation
The colonial period lasted from 1901–1960, during which the Igbos could not continue their lifestyle as they did before the colonial masters invaded Nigeria. After Nigeria gained her independence in 1960, the Nigerian Civil War broke out seven years after and lasted for three years (1967–1970). The Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War, was caused by the attempted succession of the south-eastern province of Nigeria. The war resulted in the destruction of schools, hospitals and other major infrastructures, and the Igbos became one of the poorest ethnic groups in the country. Furthermore, the Igbos suffered discrimination from other ethnic groups and were even denied jobs by employers. This war also led to the federal government denying the Igbo people access to all hard currencies that they had saved in the Bank. The government only gave them 20 pounds in exchange for their savings regardless of the size (Onumonu & Anutanwa, 2017).
Despite the 20 pounds policy which was seen as an attempt by the government to hold back the Igbos from developing their businesses as a punishment for the Biafran War, the Igbos have grown to be one of the richest tribes in West Africa and are named the Jews of Africa as proof of their prosperity in the business world (Techpoint Africa, 2018). The Igbos did not wallow in this poverty for long as they gradually rebuilt their economy in about 20 years (Afigbo, 1981). The resultant effect of the war fostered an unprecedented cooperation amongst the Igbo people. They formed unions and clubs with the sole aim of lifting the people out of poverty (Onumonu & Anutanwa, 2017).
The Igbos recalled their apprenticeship system, which they employed during the pre-colonial era. They set up their young men to render services to those who were financially stable. Parents allowed their young boys to be service providers, to people they barely knew this time. These young boys who were still in their formative years did not only serve these masters but also observed and learned the trade of their masters within the period agreed during the negotiation. The masters were mostly advanced in age and had acquired experience over time. Therefore, they did not only teach them business techniques but were also responsible for making the young boys attain maturity (Onumonu & Anutanwa, 2017).
This initiative enabled the people to survive the period of hardship as most families had at least one boy who could be given as a service provider to a master. At the end of the agreed period of apprenticeship, the boss gives the service provider a form of settlement which is usually at the discretion of the boss. Even though the settlement assisted in empowering families financially, it was more important as it enabled the service providers to establish their trade. Therefore, by the end of the period, the training and experience gained proved more valuable to them than the settlements paid (Onumonu & Anutanwa, 2017).
The Igbos successfully built new factories and even regained governmental positions which were initially taken away in the wake of the Biafran War (Iwuagwu, 2012). By late 1970s, they started to expand, and build branches in other Igbo states. Between the 1980s and 1990s, they had expanded their businesses to other states in Nigeria. The Igbos also began manufacturing products. Areas such as Aba and Nnewi were the epicentre of the Igbo manufacturing industries which made these areas to be referred to as the ‘Japan of Africa’. The people of Aba began to manufacture local products such as shoes and garments which were affordable; therefore, the term ‘Aba made’ became popular in Nigeria (Onumonu & Anutanwa, 2017). The Nnewi people were mostly traders who majorly sold spare parts for a living. By the 1980s, they began to master these spare parts and started to manufacture their products originally. By the end of the 1980s, they became the centre of trade and commerce and had the largest automobile industry in Africa (Onumonu & Anutanwa, 2017).
INDIGENOUS BUSINESS INCUBATORS
Business incubators serve as a mediator by providing future entrepreneurs and business owners a training platform and capital support which is significant in engendering entrepreneurial development (Li, Ahmed, Qalati, Khan and Naz, 2020). According to Martins, Abreu, and Calado (2019), a business incubator describes a platform that enables young entrepreneurs has access to the necessary resources needed to establish their business. Business incubators are created as a means of nurturing fresh business ideas by providing business mentoring, access to capital and training avenues for entrepreneurs (Bishop, 2019).
Business incubators are expected to lead to economic growth and development, as this enables the growth of small businesses to accelerate (Martins et al., 2019). This creates an avenue for knowledge sharing and expansion since mentoring sessions will be offered, and small businesses can have access to the support they really need.
From the pre-colonial times, the Igbos have had a tradition of keeping business strategies in families, communities and towns through different generations and after the Civil War, they kept this tradition going. Presently, different lines of business or products are dominated by different communities. The Igbo apprenticeship programme can be said to play the role of traditional business incubators in Nigeria. This platform meets the criteria for a business incubator by providing the apprentices mentoring, training them in the rudiments of a particular trade they desire to venture in and at the end of the apprentice program, the mentor supports them with capital, including providing office space for them to kick off their business.
The successes of the Igbos were attributed to the presence of adequate mentoring in these lines being handed down from one generation to another (Obunike, 2016). This mentorship program of a young adult is an incubation process for their future business. After which these young adults graduate from this apprenticeship program, they are expected to start the trade they have learnt. This study focuses on examining the incorporation of this incubation in the indigenous cloth weaving industry.
CLOTH WEAVING AMONG THE IGBO PEOPLE
Indigenous crafts such as weaving, blacksmithing and sculpting have been passed down through generations among the Igbos. Till date, the Igbos are known to be very successful in their indigenous ...
