Research Article Open Access Research Article Journal of Entrepreneurship & Organization Management J o u r n a l o f E n t r e p r e n e u r s h i p & O r g a n i z a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t ISSN: 2169-026X Asiedu and Nyarkoh, J Entrepren Organiz Manag 2017, 6:1 DOI: 10.4172/2169-026X.1000208 Volume 6 • Issue 1 • 1000208 J Entrepren Organiz Manag, an open access journal ISSN: 2169-026X *Corresponding author: Elvis Asiedu, Servicio Nacional De Aprendizaje (SENA), Centro de la Industria, la Empresa y los Servicios Carrera 5 Avenida la Toma, Neiva, Huila, Colombia, Tel: +573102790179; E-mail: akwasiasiedu63@yahoo.com; padeny4u@yahoo.com Recieved January 31, 2017; Accepted March 06, 2017; Published March 13, 2017 Citation: Asiedu E, Nyarkoh PD (2017) Transnational Entrepreneurship and Ghanaians Abroad: What are the Motives? J Entrepren Organiz Manag 6: 208. doi: 10.4172/2169-026X.1000208 Copyright: © 2017 Asiedu E, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Transnational Entrepreneurship and Ghanaians Abroad: What are the Motives? Elvis Asiedu* and Patrick Dede Nyarkoh Servicio Nacional De Aprendizaje (SENA), Neiva, Huila, Colombia Keywords: Transnational entrepreneurship; Ghana; Migration; Entrepreneurial ventures; Social relationship; Economic mobility; Financial independence Abbreviations: TE: Transnational Entrepreneurship; GSA: Ghana Statistical Authority Introduction Ghana is considered one of the more stable countries in West Africa since its transition to multi-party democracy in 1992 [1]. Formerly known as the Gold Coast, the country gained independence from Great Britain on 6 th March, 1957 under the leadership of Kwame Nkrumah, thereby becoming the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to break the chains of colonialism. Ghana is ranked as the 86 th country with unemployment rate of 11% as of June, 30, 2015 as compared to 5.7% in the final quarter of 2013 [2]. Cocoa, Gold, Bauxite, Timber, and more recently Oil form the cornerstone of Ghana’s economy and have helped fuel an economic growth. Ghana is the 9 th largest economy in Africa and 2 nd largest in West Africa, with 27 million populations [1]. It is argued that, a country’s economic development, employment, innovation and productivity are driven by entrepreneurial activities. Hisrich [3] supported that economic progress of a country is significantly advanced by pragmatic individuals who are innovative with entrepreneurial skills, and willing to take risk in order to exploit opportunities that may be uncertain. Daniel and Mead [4] argued that such enterprises play a major role in poverty alleviation for households and can be significant contributors to economic development of a country. In Ghana, the majority of the working populations are employed in small-scale enterprises. ese small-medium enterprises employ 15% of the working population with a high rate of growth than any other companies and contributing 6% to the country’s GDP [5]. In simply put, the establishment of micro, small and medium enterprises contribute immensely to a country’s economic growth. is has made the topic “transnational entrepreneurship”, a popular area of research within the international business, ethnic and immigrant entrepreneurship. ough transnational entrepreneurs are seen as the catalyst of these small-medium business establishments in Africa and within the context of Ghana, many of us have not sought to ask about their motive towards this establishment. Many of us are aware that establishing and managing business from a far distance can be very hectic and difficult and as a matter of fact, these entrepreneurs operate in a condition where cost may be known but rewards are uncertain, yet they are motivated. Do you know that this kind of business creation requires someone who is hardworking, information seeking, independent- minded, and willing to take risk and personal initiative? Are you also aware that exploiting opportunities that may be uncertain could be the biggest risk to take as a transnational entrepreneur? So if that is the case, then the question is; what really drives them to engage in such entrepreneurial activities? Abstract Business Creation is something that does not come into being on its own; but it emerges from people who see a need for service or product in a society, with that desire to be self-employed and rise above, and use that opportunity. These individuals are dedicated people who are willing to absorb all their time, passion, and money in the work they have created to ensure business growth and success. Though these entrepreneurs operate in a condition where costs may be known but rewards are uncertain, yet they are motivated and the question here is; what really drives the performance to engage in such entrepreneurial activities? The general results show that though individuals motives for seeking self-employment are diverse and numerous; and differ on certain points. However, there are some basic motives common to all and that is majority of the respondents with the average score of 63.3% supported that Economic Mobility, Financial Independence, Success Perspective, and Social Factor, are the most driven factors for the engagement in transnational entrepreneurship. It was also discovered that the success of these entrepreneurs are based on attitudinal, the degree of embededdness in the home country, personal and the institutional regulations of the destination countries. The results found that Ghana Transnational Entrepreneurs are more into Merchandising Business with (59.21%) as compared to Service Business (34.21%) and Manufacturing Business (10.53%). The results also disclosed that, in Ghana, transnational entrepreneurs businesses are managed and run mostly by their families (59.21%). Ashanti Region of Ghana was spotted to be more involved in doing business with 52.63%. The research employed both deductive and exploratory approach and the methods were both primary and secondary. The study focused on small-scale entrepreneurs who run their businesses through personal social connections. The research is subjected to the bias of the respondents, therefore, 100% accuracy cannot be guaranteed.