Higher education contexts of entrepreneurship education outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Motivated by the growing emphasis to influence young people’s post-study career intentions through entrepreneurship education, particularly in Africa where poverty and conflict have been associated with high youth unemployment, this paper articulates the effect of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intention amongst students and graduates from two higher education institutions in conflict-torn northern Nigeria. By relying on systematic analysis following semi-structured interviews, the findings showed that newly acquired knowledge and skills in use of market intelligence, business plan writing and record-keeping were not only linked with entrepreneurial intentions, but it also emerged that the volatile context of the business environment influenced strategic decisions related to new business growth and survival. Research and policy implications were considered based on the findings.