Every year,an estimated10-12 millionyoung Africans enter the labormarket, yet only about 3 million formal jobs are created (African Development Bank, Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy 2023). The result is a widening employment gap: more than one in four young people across the continent are neither in employment, education, nor training, while three in four young people in sub-Saharan Africa lack secure work (International Labour Organization, Global Employment Trends for Youth 2024).
These realities are pushing universities across the continent to rethink graduate preparation. As traditional employment can’t keep pace with Africa’s growing youth population, higher education institutions must move beyond preparing students to seek jobs and start equipping them to create them.
The inaugural Entrepreneurship Strategy Workshop, convened by The Education Collaborative, brought together representatives from eight African universities in Accra, Ghana, from June 10–12, to address this challenge.
The workshop drew institutions from Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, and Benin, aiming to help universities move beyond isolated entrepreneurship initiatives and build intentional, institution-wide ecosystems that nurture innovators, support venture creation, and prepare graduates to generate opportunities for themselves and others.
Participating institutions included Garden City University College and Palm University College (Ghana); United States International University-Africa, Rongo University, and the University of Embu (Kenya); the University of Rwanda; Midlands State University (Zimbabwe); and the University of Abomey-Calavi (Benin), representing Francophone West Africa.
Nana Ama Boa-Amponsem, Assistant Director of Programs at The Education Collaborative, points to entrepreneurship’s growing importance in higher education, given its close ties to employability and economic development – and notes that current efforts to improve students’ entrepreneurial outcomes remain fragmented.
“Many institutions are already implementing entrepreneurship activities, but those efforts are often fragmented,” she explained. “This workshop was designed to help institutions understand their ecosystems, identify priorities, and develop strategies that bring those efforts together.”
The workshop is part of The Education Collaborative’s broader push to strengthen higher education across Africa by helping institutions build systems that foster innovation, entrepreneurship, and graduate success, moving away from siloed activities, toward coordinated ecosystems that sustain entrepreneurial thinking and venture creation over the long term.
Lead facilitator Brandon Paschal, Head of SU LaunchLab at Stellenbosch University set the tone, challenging participants to focus not on running more programmes, but on intentionally building systems and outcomes that enable innovation, venture creation, and lasting impact.
Before arriving in Accra, participating institutions completed The Education Collaborative’s Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Diagnostic Tool (EEDT), which assesses an institution’s entrepreneurship environment across multiple dimensions. The results highlighted strengths, gaps, and opportunities for growth, prompting candid reflection among university leaders.
“When we utilized the diagnostic tool, we realized there were areas where we were performing poorly,” said Dr. Billy Wadongo, Director, Innovations and Incubation, United States International University-Africa. “One of those areas was aspirations – how do we build an entrepreneurial mindset among faculty, staff, and students? The tool helped us see where we are and where we need to improve.”
Over three days, institutions moved from diagnosis to implementation planning, mapping the actors, resources, partnerships, and structures shaping entrepreneurial activity on their campuses and envisioning what a thriving ecosystem could look like in their own context.
One reality became clear: no two entrepreneurial journeys look the same, and there is no single blueprint for success.
“Every institution is unique,” noted Dr. Stephen Ajwang of Rongo University. “We are not competing against other universities. We are competing against the goals we set for ourselves.”
Prof. Jonathan Mulwa, Dean of the School of Arts, Social Science and Business at Rongo University, challenged participants to answer three questions: Why are we building an entrepreneurship ecosystem? What problem are we trying to solve? And who do we need to work with to achieve our goals?
For some institutions, the answer was graduate employability; for others, institutional sustainability, innovation, or stronger industry links. Participants agreed that ecosystems must be highly contextual, built through partnerships with people and organizations that understand local realities.
For many, a strong ecosystem starts with leadership. Participants stressed that entrepreneurship cannot thrive as an isolated effort driven by a few committed faculty – it needs institutional support, leadership buy-in, and a clear vision from management.
Professor Daniel Mugendi, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Embu, captured the kind of leadership required: “I know where we want to go. Tell me what needs to be done and I will support you.”
Discussions also pushed institutions to rethink the purpose of higher education itself: beyond producing graduates for existing jobs, how are students being equipped to create jobs for themselves and others? The answer, participants agreed, lies in giving students entrepreneurial skills and mindsets that let them identify opportunities, solve problems, and create value.
The conversations also challenged perceptions of entrepreneurship. For many young people, success still means a formal office job -but participants argued entrepreneurship deserves equal respect as a career path. “Don’t think that because you’re in an office with a tie and a laptop, you’ve made it,” remarked Maame Efua Aikins, Career Services Officer at Palm University College, Ghana. “You can have your own business on the side.”
Dr. Egya Eshun, Lecturer and Director of the Garden City University College Career Services Centre, emphasized that the goal isn’t to produce entrepreneurs overnight, but to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset. “Mindset change is important. Undergraduate education may not be long enough to completely change someone’s mindset, but we can sow the seeds.” His point captured a recurring theme: universities have a responsibility to nurture graduates who can recognize opportunities, think creatively, and create value long after they leave campus.
Institutions were then challenged to define where they wanted their ecosystems to be over the next three to five years and to translate those ambitions into action. Using ecosystem mapping exercises, they identified key actors, resources, partnerships, and structures on their campuses; developed SMART goals and long-term aspirations; and created phased implementation plans to guide activities over the next twelve months.
“This workshop is helping institutions develop a destination and a strategy to get there,” said Dr. Reginald Arthur of Academic City University, one of the workshop’s facilitators. “The activities are practical. Institutions are learning how to develop plans that can actually be implemented.”
Brandon Paschal also encouraged participants to look beyond activities and ask what outcomes they produce. Ecosystems, he argued, should be judged not by the number of programmes or competitions they run, but by tangible results: students starting ventures, ideas being commercialized, partnerships forged, and graduates creating opportunities for themselves and others.
By the workshop’s end, each institution had produced two outputs: a draft entrepreneurship ecosystem strategy and a twelve-month implementation plan outlining priorities, activities, responsibilities, and expected outcomes – expected to drive changes such as stronger governance and policy frameworks, deeper industry partnerships, enhanced innovation hubs, and better support systems for student entrepreneurs.
All agreed: entrepreneurship cannot remain on the margins of university life. It must be intentional – embedded in teaching and curricula, reflected in institutional priorities, and integrated into the student experience.
Read more about the Entrepreneurship Strategy Workshop here.
References
- African Development Bank Group. (2023). Mid-Term Evaluation of the Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy 2016–2025. Independent Development Evaluation (IDEV), African Development Bank Group. Available at: https://idev.afdb.org/en/document/mid-term-evaluation-african-development-banks-jobs-youth-africa-strategy-2016-2025
- International Labour Organization. (2024). Global Employment Trends for Youth 2024: Decent Work, Brighter Futures. Geneva: International Labour Organization. Available at: https://www.ilo.org/publications/major-publications/global-employment-trends-youth-2024
This article was originally published by The Education Collaborative and is republished here with permission.
The Education Collaborative is a pan-African network advancing higher education through collaborative research, practice-driven programs, and shared accountability among universities and education leaders, with a focus on strengthening graduate outcomes and long-term institutional impact.