Title: Unemployment in Africa and entrepreneurial education: a critical assessment of entrepreneurship education programs in Sierra Leone

Authors: Alfred Mbeteh; Massimiliano M. Pellegrini; Salime Mehtap

Addresses: University of West London, London, W5-5RF, UK ' Department of Management and Law, University of Rome 'Tor Vergata', Rome, Italy ' College of Business and Economics, American University of Kuwait, Safat, Kuwait

Abstract: Unemployment and specifically youth unemployment, is a condition which many developing countries must deal with. Different initiatives have been developed to counterbalance this problem and an effective response comes in the form of entrepreneurship education (EE). While there has been an increase in the number of entrepreneurship education programs (EEPs) in general, little is known about the current status of programs targeting graduate youths in particular. This paper exactly reviews the actual EE status in Sierra Leone and recommends ways to effectively improve the implementation of such programs. The analysis was conducted by selecting a sample of programs offered at 15 higher education institutions. Phone interviews were conducted to obtain information on the programs' outcomes, characteristics, contexts and participants. The results show that the provision of EE by higher education institutions in the country are still in their early stages and need more coordinated efforts, further government support and funding.

Keywords: entrepreneurship education; entrepreneurship education programs; EEPs; developing countries; West Africa; Sierra Leone; youth unemployment; entrepreneurship.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBG.2019.102923

International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 2019 Vol.23 No.3, pp.420 - 451

Received: 28 Sep 2018
Accepted: 28 Sep 2018
Published online: 11 Oct 2019 *

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