Abstract
It is a well-established fact that several developed economies grew on the back of small businesses and entrepreneurial development. It stands to reason then that the development of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) can also be catalysed by a rise in the number of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial activity. In that general regard, this paper sought to investigate the state of entrepreneurship education in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The method adopted in investigating this phenomenon was to critique the existing tertiary education entrepreneurship structures (where these existed at all) and to proffer recommendations where anomalies were discovered. It came to light that despite the critical importance of entrepreneurs in the economic development of a nation, Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries have not fully developed strategies to tap this resource. What the countries have, are haphazard policies designed to promote the lesser or uneducated individuals in the informal sector into entrepreneurship. SSA educational leaders must find ways to structure their curricula so that all or most of their students can take courses in entrepreneurship. This is essential for SSA countries in order to move them from their present disadvantaged economic status, to greater economic and social development. A tentative syllabus for African tertiary education is proffered at the end of the article but its robustness needs to be tested.
Highlights
TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATIONAccording to Brazeal and Herbert (1999), the study of entrepreneurship is still in its infancy
There appears to exist a consensus that entrepreneurship education and training has a major role to play in the development of entrepreneurial attitudes, abilities and related skills (European Commission, 2002)
In what seemed like an attempt to rectify this anomaly, the University of Ghana decided to introduce a course in entrepreneurship as a compulsory course for all freshmen entering into the university in the 2005 academic year
Summary
It is a well-established fact that several developed economies grew on the back of small businesses and entrepreneurial development. It stands to reason that the development of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) can be catalysed by a rise in the number of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial activity. This paper sought to investigate the state of entrepreneurship education in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The method adopted in investigating this phenomenon was to critique the existing tertiary education entrepreneurship structures (where these existed at all) and to proffer recommendations where anomalies were discovered. SSA educational leaders must find ways to structure their curricula so that all or most of their students can take courses in entrepreneurship. This is essential for SSA countries in order to move them from their present disadvantaged economic status, to greater economic and social development. A tentative syllabus for African tertiary education is proffered at the end of the article but its robustness needs to be tested
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