Her research brings to the fore the potentials for delivering sustainable development, by building on indigenous knowledge which indigenous entrepreneurs use in generating grassroots innovations.

It received the award as the best African research project in the field of management. The award is offered by Emerald and the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society, (ALCS) in association with the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) and the International Academy of African Business and Development (IAABD).

According to Onwuegbuzie who heads the Department of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at LBS, “home-grown solutions tend to be more readily acceptable and sustainable as they incorporate the cultural values and interests of the people”.

She advocates substituting top-down development strategies for more collaborative bottom-up engagements towards achieving sustainable development.

She has presented this topic at the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship Conference, in South Carolina, in January, and will be presenting it at the International Academy of African American Business and Development conference, in Edmonton, Canada, in May, and at a workshop on socio-economic development in Africa at INSEAD’s Abu Dhabi campus in June.

Emerald is a leading independent publisher of global research with impact in business, society, public policy and education. In addition to the Winner, three Highly Commended Awards will be bestowed to researchers from the University of Botswana, Gaborone, Concordia University, Canada, and the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.