Entrepreneurial Education and Africa’s Attainment of Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

Entrepreneurship has the potential to reduce poverty, stimulate economic
growth and boost innovation, in addition to enhancing social and
environmental sustainability. In accordance with the human capital theory
and previous empirical studies, it is assumed that entrepreneurship education
and training directly correlate with positive entrepreneurial outcomes and
therefore sustainable development. Although several scholars have attempted
to review and analyse entrepreneurship education and training literature over
the past decade, none of these reviews directly links entrepreneurship
education and training with sustainable development or focuses on the role
and status of entrepreneurship education and training (research) in less-stable
areas of the world. This article analyses recent literature to identify the extent
to which entrepreneurship education and training research addresses
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The review identifies several gaps in
research and practice that potentially hinder entrepreneurship education and
training from adequately advancing sustainable development, including a
dearth of research on African states and demographic diversity, limited
entrepreneurship education and training access to non-university students
and a general lack of focus on educational technology, progressive education
approaches, and innovation in African countries compared to stable ones.
The review also identifies challenges pertaining to entrepreneurship education
and training resource constraints in fragile contexts. The article concludes by
offering insights on how educational technology could mitigate
entrepreneurship education and training challenges in developing Africa
environments to ultimately ease some barriers towards SDG advancement
and provides recommendations for future research directions.