[FEATURES] Enhancing Entrepreneurship Education in Africa: A Comprehensive Approach

Posted by African Examiner Articles/Opinion, Featured, Latest Headlines, South Africa, Southern Africa Saturday, August 24th, 2024

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The deliberate enhancement of entrepreneurship education in Africa, balancing theory with practice, is as critical as the efforts to eradicate youth unemployment and poverty. We need, desperately, to build a pool of entrepreneurial youth that will create jobs for themselves and others, instead of seeking jobs in an environment that is not capable of absorbing them. The World Economic Forum recognises that for Africa to address youth unemployment, the continent needs to shift young people’s efforts from seeking jobs to creating economic opportunities for themselves.

Senior Director, Entrepreneurship Education Programs at the Anzisha Prize Dave Tait professes that the process of fostering an effective entrepreneurship education in Africa will involve the identifying of key principles of entrepreneurship education; a key focus on project-based learning, practical challenges, and the integration of entrepreneurial mindsets and tools such as design thinking across the education systems (basic and higher education).

“Through the Anzisha Prize’s near two decades of experience working with young individuals aged 15-22 across Africa, we have learned that instilling entrepreneurial skills from an early age ensures that students become adaptable, innovative, and growth-oriented by the time they enter the economic mainstream. These individuals will be capable of identifying problems in their environment and creating commercial solutions to meet these challenges”, says Tait.

This concept is reinforced by the book How to Develop Entrepreneurial Behaviour Through Entrepreneurship Practice authored by Josh Adler and Nolizwe Mhlaba which underscores the notion that “entrepreneurship education can establish a foundation for success in various personal and professional paths, whether as entrepreneurs, doctors, or teachers.”

This education, which nurtures entrepreneurial skills, means that students entering the job market will have fundamental business skills in finance, marketing, information systems, and management—crucial competencies in today’s workforce. Upon graduation, they will be equipped to transform an idea into a product or service, perform effective market research for product-market fit, pitch their business to investors, and launch their ventures into the market.

Tait stresses that introducing entrepreneurship education early is essential for fostering a culture of innovation and initiative among young people: “Incorporating entrepreneurial concepts into school curricula allows students to learn basic business principles from an early age. Integrating real-world business scenarios into education provides students with practical insights into the entrepreneurial process, sparking their curiosity about business and encouraging an initiative-taking approach to problem-solving. It cultivates a mindset that sees challenges as opportunities, laying a solid foundation for future entrepreneurial activities.”

According to the book How to Develop Entrepreneurial Behaviour Through Entrepreneurship Practice, there are several methods to deliver entrepreneurship education, including:

Teaching through practical experience.
Using project-based learning as the medium for entrepreneurship education, emphasising entrepreneurial tools, skills, and mindsets.
Spotlighting the significance of solving problems or challenges and employing design thinking as an entrepreneurial tool.

Josh Adler, Chief Program Officer at the Africa Leadership Academy says that the process of creating entrepreneurs from Africa’s youthful population requires a shift in the way many people think about entrepreneurship education: “Still quite nascent as an area of study and practice, entrepreneurship education has fallen into effectively two types: textbook-driven theoretical training and ideate and-pitch programs. While each of these has their place, the success of the various programs spearheaded by the Africa Leadership Academy – and a growing cohort of similarly minded pioneers in this space – show that these are not robust enough for increasing entrepreneurial propensity or success in Africa.”

“Imparting young entrepreneurs with entrepreneurial skills within their schooling environment and familiar surroundings, throughout their academic journey, is the most effective tool through which to develop practice, critical mindsets and enterprising skillset. Importantly, this builds leadership acumen, shaping and accelerating people of high potential who will lead across the public and private sector spectrum.”

Lastly, Tait adds that in delivering this education, it is important to strike a balance between content and application, with a suggested ratio of 20% content to 80% application. “Coaching is vital in entrepreneurship education, as young people need guidance and support throughout their learning journey. This should be implemented as early as high school, with a focus on experiential learning and simulation.”