THE CONTEXT OF IGWEBUIKE: WHAT ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT SYSTEMS IN AFRICA CAN LEARN FROM THE IGBO APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM

Abstract

Many African countries design and implement entrepreneurship development programmes (EDP) to empower their people and save their nations from poverty. These programmes, many of which are modeled after programmes that have succeeded in other parts of the world, often fail to fully realize their objectives as many of the businesses emerging from the programmes do not survive or perform as planned. This study looks inward to an indigenous model – The Igbo apprenticeship system (IAS), a popular model used in Nigeria, especially by people of the South East. The system has been recognized as the most successful business incubation platform in Africa and, arguably, in the world. Analysis of literature on IAS showed that complementarity was the secret behind the success of the IAS. The complementarity features of the IAS were identified and a descriptive survey was used to investigate whether integrating the complementarity features into EDP will be helpful in raising successful entrepreneurs. Subjects for the investigation were 92 entrepreneurs whose businesses emerged or benefited from entrepreneurship development programmes in Nigeria and has operated their businesses for at least one year. The subjects who were selected from South-West Nigeria, responded to a 30-item questionnaire. The questionnaire was validated by 5 experts and pre-tested. The pre-test result produced a Cronbach Alpha Reliability Coefficient of 0.87. Data collected in the study were analysed using frequency, percentage and mean. Results revealed that integrating the complementarity features of the IAS into EDP will be very helpful in creating more successful entrepreneurs. Based on this finding, sponsors and organisers of EDP need better understanding of the IAS and develop capacity to integrate its complementarity features. To facilitate the integration process for organisers of EDP, a framework for the integration was developed (based on the findings) and validated by three management experts.