Climate Science

We examine in this chapter what Africa is from the perspective of the academic discipline of Climate Science, i.e., the systematic inquiry of aspects of the Earth’s climate—the weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period. The chapter addresses two research questions. The first question ponders over the kind of insights and possibilities that are generated when the study and management of climate in Africa is approached from an entrepreneurial perspective of opportunity identification and exploitation. There is limited research examining climate in Africa from this perspective. The general image of the climate of Africa is one characterized by droughts, floods, and tropical diseases like malaria, which could easily make one look at the climate of Africa as being problematic. Following sustainable entrepreneurship scholars who view such threats as opportunities for sustainable development; this chapter challenges this perspective and extends the approach to climate research and action by applying an entrepreneurial process model of opportunity identification and exploitation toward the development of Africa. It conceptualizes climate not merely as an analysis of trends and patterns of temperature, rainfall, wind, and air pressure that create hazards such as floods and droughts, but rather as an asset with opportunities to be discovered and exploited. The application of this framework leads to the second question addressed in this chapter: What is the role of scientists, decision makers, investors, and communities in identifying and exploiting opportunities offered by climate in Africa?