THE WORLD IS NOT FINISHED : An African Field Guide to Entrepreneurial Thinking and Value Creation
Year: 2026
Type: book
Abstract: The World Is Not Finished: An African Field Guide to Entrepreneurial Thinking and Value Creation The World Is Not Finished is an open-access educational textbook that introduces entrepreneurship as a disciplined way of observing the world, understanding unmet needs, questioning assumptions, testing possibilities and creating meaningful value. Rooted in African realities and informed by contemporary entrepreneurship and innovation scholarship, the book offers a practical, globally relevant approach to developing entrepreneurial thinking and judgement. Written by Bukola Amao-Taiwo, PhD, and published as part of the ORÍKÀ™ Open Textbooks series, the book challenges the assumption that entrepreneurship begins with substantial capital, sophisticated technology or a fully developed business idea. Instead, it positions entrepreneurship as a learnable capability that begins with attention, curiosity, evidence and the responsible use of available resources. Organised into 16 chapters across seven interconnected learning journeys, the textbook guides readers through identifying overlooked opportunities, investigating real problems, generating alternatives, testing assumptions, developing workable solutions, understanding customers, examining financial viability, mobilising resources and reflecting on the consequences of entrepreneurial action. The book draws on contemporary entrepreneurship theories and African wisdom traditions, bringing scholarly knowledge into conversation with culturally situated experiences and practical examples. Its distinctive ORÍKÀ™ Baobab Architecture of Transformative Learning provides a conceptual structure for understanding entrepreneurial development as a continuous process of seeing, understanding, imagining, testing, creating value and reflecting. Designed for active learning, the textbook includes illustrated chapter-opening scenarios, practical field activities, reflective exercises, worked examples and a supplementary Field Kit. These resources encourage learners to move beyond classroom discussion into observation, engagement with real people, small-scale experimentation and evidence-based decision-making. Intended audiences include undergraduate and postgraduate students, student entrepreneurs, first-time founders, entrepreneurship educators, distance and open-learning students, innovation practitioners and individuals interested in developing entrepreneurial capabilities. Although grounded in African social and economic contexts, the book is intended for international use. Its open educational design supports adaptation, translation and contextualisation for different learning environments, subject to the conditions of its licence. Ultimately, The World Is Not Finished advances a view of entrepreneurship that extends beyond venture creation to encompass problem-solving, social innovation, organisational improvement, inclusion and responsible value creation. Keywords: Entrepreneurship education; Entrepreneurial thinking; Value creation; African entrepreneurship; Opportunity recognition; Design thinking; Effectuation; Experiential learning; Entrepreneurship pedagogy; Innovation education; Open educational resources; Student entrepreneurship; Resourcefulness; Social innovation; Responsible entrepreneurship. Publication information Author: Bukola Amao-Taiwo, PhD Series: ORÍKÀ™ Open Textbooks Edition: Version 1.0 (2026) Resource type: Book / Open Educational Resource Language: English Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) Author ORCID: 0000-0002-9277-6783
Author: Amao-Taiwo, Bukola
Institution: University of Lagos
Language: English
Subfield: Management of Technology and Innovation
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7221362020