Entrepreneurship development in Ethiopia

Globally, much attention is currently given to entrepreneurship development and the role of higher education institutions in strengthening entrepreneurial capacities. This is also the case in Ethiopia where government is pursuing, as one of its strategies, measures to promote small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to spur the economies’ growth and to increase youth employability.

Within this context, MSM has carried out an assessment among nine universities. The research team was led by MSM faculty member Huub Mudde in collaboration with a team of Ethiopian researchers.

The assessment concludes that entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial activities at the Ethiopian universities are at their infant stage. Major efforts will be needed to address the challenge put upon the universities of capacitating the growing number of students to become a self-employed entrepreneur or an intrapreneurial employee, and to fulfil a leading role as centers of knowledge and innovation for local and regional economic development. A set of policy recommendations are made to address these challenges, presented in a policy brief published by the Education Strategy Centre (ESC, Ethiopia).

The study was carried out within the framework of the University Leadership and Management Capacity Development (ULMCD) project which is supported by the Netherlands government through EP-Nuffic. The project is implemented by MSM and the Education Strategy Centre (ESC, Ethiopia).

Click here for the final report and click here for the policy brief.