Entrepreneurship Education in Developing Countries - Paper Example

Introduction

Developing countries are the new business frontiers, with lucrative but highly risky markets. As a result, there has been increased focus on the subject of entrepreneurship with regard to developing nations, from both a theoretical and practical angle. In this two-phased education approach, entrepreneurship is being taught in schools while also being practised in the social setting. This has made it possible for developing nations to make remarkable strides in deepening entrepreneurship. The result has been significant increase in the number of businesses. However, there are challenges as well, particularly when it comes to the survival of entrepreneurial ventures as well as the adoption of effective growth technologies (Nwekeaku, 2013). To understand this subject better, this term paper will delve into a discussion of entrepreneurship in developing countries, taking great care to highlight challenges and prospects in the following two sub themes: accounting/business education and information communication technology (ICT).

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To begin with business education, there are notable prospects for the development of entrepreneurship in developing nations. Before going further, it is important to point out that these nations have already set the ball rolling, meaning that business education will serve to deepen initiatives that are already in motion. Prospects lie in more investments in higher education and the development of ideas incubation centres (Libombo, 2015). The former will serve to cement entrepreneurial education in higher learning while the latter will make it possible to acquire practical experience that can help in the achievement of entrepreneurial objectives. With high levels of unemployment, developing nations cannot afford to teach their graduates to go and look for jobs. Rather, they should remind them to be ready to start ventures that can employ as many people as possible. Therefore, business education should be at the core of learning, particularly in higher education (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, 2010). For example, all students should be required to undertake courses in entrepreneurship, regardless of the specialization of their degree courses. Once they graduate, they should be able to secure mentorship with institutions that will help them develop their ideas further (this is the practical aspect of business education). At this level, governments can provide funding such that potential entrepreneurs can test the viability of their ideas (Grunwald, 2015). Once such ideas have been quantified and their viability ascertained, it will be much easier for the entrepreneurs involved to get access to seed capital, hence beginning their entrepreneurial journey (Agbonlahor, 2016). It is important that all stakeholders - individual, institutional and governments - are made aware of their roles in furthering business education in a manner that deepens entrepreneurship.

There are challenges to business education, especially when the practical aspects of the undertaking are concerned. For example, funding ideas incubation centres may be an expensive undertaking that cash-starved governments of developing nations may not prioritize. The outcome of this will be as predictable as it will be worrying: far too many people will learn only the theoretical aspects of entrepreneurship in a classroom setting (Williams & Gurtoo, 2016). However, without a place to experiment with their ideas before they start the formal process of setting up a business, there will be no guarantee that their ventures will not collapse due to inadequate preparation. This will undermine the effectiveness of practical entrepreneurship education (Jaafar & Aziz, 2008). Many of the small ventures that will be started in the course of entrepreneurship will find it hard to keep records. This is a factor that has continued to undermine entrepreneurship in developing nations. Book keeping may be a complex activity for relatively small firms that are starting their operations. This could arise from the fact that many of those starting small ventures may not have sound financial training (Dana, Ratten, & Honyenuga, 2008). Besides, the complexities of trading, profit and loss accounts; income statements and balance sheets may intimidate some small scale entrepreneurs. The problem is that no entrepreneurship education can be complete without mastery of basic accounting. On the other hand, would-be entrepreneurs are too fascinated with their ideas to take time studying the basics of accounting. The outcome is one where those eager to start businesses know too little when it comes to accounting. As a result, they are unable to distinguish assets and liabilities, incomes and expenses as well as the advantages of various forms of capital (Ofori-Dankwa, 2015). The end effect is that entrepreneurship education is undermined, especially when it comes to application in real life business setting.

There are prospects and challenges for entrepreneurship education in ICT as well. Firstly, developing countries are yet to reap the full benefits of information, communication and technology when it comes to entrepreneurship. Therefore, there is capacity to be explored with regard to techniques like business process outsourcing (Wamuyu, 2015). As a result, entrepreneurship education should seek to maximize these new frontiers and opportunities that are being offered by a globalized business environment in the 21st century ( Ndemo & Weiss, 2016). At this point, it is important to remind that entrepreneurship education must be both theoretical and practical. Theory must emphasise on the importance of connectivity, a factor that is enhanced by development of an elaborate ICT framework. For example, investments in telecommunication infrastructure will cheapen internet. This will in effect increase connectivity between developed and developing nations (Oakey, 2012). Connectivity makes it possible for these two types of nations to share ideas in a way that increases entrepreneurship practices in the developing world. Therefore, entrepreneurship education must take great care to teach on the importance of this connectivity for one main reason: through this approach, entrepreneurs of developing nation can learn from their counterparts in developed (and emerging) nations (Ofori-Dankwa, 2015). To cement this approach, education must seek to illustrate cases of success whereby companies from developed and developing nations have worked together to comes up with new innovations. Fitting examples include the partnership between Britain's Vodafone and Kenya's Safaricom which gave rise to the mobile money innovation M-Pesa, one of its kinds in the world. These case studies will inspire and offer blueprints on new ways of mutual cooperation. It is important to note that entrepreneurial ventures can also arise out of this process; hence this cooperation is not just for the sole purpose of theoretical illustration.

There are challenges though, especially when it comes to technology. Firstly, much of the technology in use in developing countries is rather old and out-dated, meaning that its ability to support innovation is limited (Ogbor, 2009). For example, internet is far too slow, meaning that there is a limit to how much firms in developing countries can reap the benefits brought about by the age of information. This also means that in as far as internet is concerned; cooperation between developed and developing nations will be limited (Tobias, 2010). It becomes difficult for entrepreneurship education to be effective when there is lack of appropriate technology to put lessons into practice. At the very best, such lessons will remain theoretical. This point is best illustrated with an example. In the world of today, there are numerous entrepreneurial benefits brought about by artificial intelligence (AI). As a matter of fact, some start-ups have AI at the core of their operations. These start-ups have been able to grow from small ventures to larger firms, employing people along the way. In theory, developing countries can have such firms as well. However, technological constraints make it harder to practice this type of entrepreneurship, because it is technology-intensive (Ansong, Affum, & Hayfron, 2012). The end effect is that when teaching technological entrepreneurship in developing countries, this is a challenge that stakeholders must account for. Entrepreneurship thrives on a reliable ICT framework, the type that developing countries do not have, yet.

Conclusion

From the discussion above, there is a case for optimism when it comes to development of entrepreneurship education in developing countries. Universities should intensify efforts to have all students acquire basic skills when it comes to this serious subject. Education must go further than the classroom setting. For example, those interested in becoming entrepreneurs should be mentored via the establishment of entrepreneurial incubation centres. The government should invest in funds and schemes that make this possible. Collaboration with developed nations can make this education more effective. However, there are challenges that must be confronted if this education is to succeed. Regarding business education, there is the risk of too much theory and less emphasis on the practical; insufficient funding and poor adoption of accounting practices. Regarding ICT, out-dated technology is a major challenge to the adoption of effective entrepreneurship education practices.

References

Agbonlahor, A. A. (2016). Challenges of Entrepreneurial Education in Nigerian Universities: Towards a Repositioning for Impact. Journal of Educational and Social Research, 6(1), 208-213.

Ansong, D., Affum , E., & Hayfron, A. (2012). The Challenges of Young ICT Entrepreneurs in Developing Countries: The Case of Ghana . International Journal of Computer Applications, 45(21), 1-4.

Dana, L. P., Ratten, V., & Honyenuga, B. Q. (2008). African Entrepreneurship: Challenges and Opportunities for Doing Business. New York, NY: Springer International Publishing.

Grunwald, N. (2015). Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Sustainability. Berlin: Books on Demand.

Jaafar, M., & Aziz, A. R. (2008). Entrepreneurship education in developing country: Exploration on its necessity in the construction programme. Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, 6(2), 178-189.

Libombo, D. B. (2015). Entrepreneurship education in the context of developing countries: Study of the status and the main barriers in Mozambican higher education institutions. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, 20(3), 20-46.

Ndemo, B., & Weiss, T. (2016). Digital Kenya: An Entrepreneurial Revolution in the Making. Berlin: Springer.

Nwekeaku, C. (2013). Entrepreneurship Education and Challenges to Nigerian Universities . Journal of Education and Practice, 4(3) , 51-56.

Oakey, R. P. (2012). High-technology Entrepreneurship. London: Routledge.

Ofori-Dankwa, J. (2015). Comparative Case Studies on Entrepreneurship in Developed and Developing Countries. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Ogbor, J. (2009). Entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Strategic Management Perspective. London: AuthorHouse.

Tobias, K. (2010). E-Entrepreneurship and ICT Ventures: Strategy, Organization and Technology. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. (2010). Entrepreneurship education, innovation and capacity-building in developing countries. Geneva: UNCTAD.

Wamuyu, P. K. (2015). The Impact of Information and Communication Technology Adoption and Diffusion on Technology Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries: The Case of Kenya. Information Technology for Development, 21(2), 253-280.

Williams, C. C., & Gurtoo, A. (2016). Routledge Handbook of...