Venture Capital and the Emergence and Development of Entrepreneurship: A Focus on Employment Generation and Poverty Alleviation in Lagos State

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is a vital force in the economy of any nation because of the strategic role it plays in the achievement of macro-economic objectives and national development but is confronted with many Impediments such as the dearth of start up and working capital for expansion. Venture capital (VC) came into the financial market to bridge the gap created by the scarcity of long term and cheap finance which is considered appropriate for SMEs. VC is attractive due to low rate of interest coupled with investor’s technical input. This research paper investigated the effect of VC on emergence and development of entrepreneurship as an aid to employment creation and poverty alleviation in Lagos State. Findings revealed that the venture capital in Lagos State exists but not effective. The study concluded that ineffective VC activity has resulted in the low number entrepreneurship emergence, underdevelopment of the sector, high level of unemployment and huge poverty in the state. Key Word: Venture capital; Entrepreneurship; Employment generation; Poverty alleviation