About us

The project is rooted in a partnership between Sciences Po and AIMS that combines: (i) the strengths of the institutional processes in both institutions in terms of research project management, (ii) the belief that entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial education matters for a more prosperous Africa and (iii) the quality of more than 40 talented research managers, assistants and support staff.

The expertise brought together by AIMS & Sciences Po

Under the supervision of the Center for Entrepreneurship, Sciences Po has mobilized various bodies and provided its expertise in policy design, analysis and evaluation. AIMS has provided its renowned expertise in data processing and statistical survey.

The aim of the collaboration is to obtain, at the end of the research project, evidence-based recommendations to build the next generation of pro entrepreneurial training programs for African Scholars.

And this, not only in terms of courses but also of diverse support mechanisms focused on graduate entrepreneurial development.

A project rich in terms of synergies

The research partnership between Sciences Po and AIMS is based on numerous synergies between those two institutions which benefits from the Mastercard Program, notably interdisciplinary and geographical synergies.

Interdisciplinary synergies. AIMS, as a nursery of future African scientists and mathematicians manages the statistical aspects of the project. Sciences Po, with its experience in policy building, program implementation and evaluation, will be in charge of analytical dimensions.

Geographical synergies. AIMS is established in five countries: Cameroon, Rwanda, South Africa, Senegal and Ghana. The project has mobilized that excellent African coverage during the administration phase of the questionnaire. The latter was entrusted to students from the various institutes. The research project has leveraged their excellent knowledge of local realities to adapt the questionnaire.

For the students: a project built as an application exercise

Far from being a simple research exercise, the research project is designed as an academic application exercise for nearly 30 master level students from Sciences Po and AIMS. They undertook literature reviews, helped build the questionnaire, received training on advanced statistical techniques, interviewed alumni, compiled data and participated in data analysis and research project result dissemination.

Students from both institutions were organized in pairs to design the questionnaire and work on specific parts of the questionnaire. This organization contributed to knowledge transfer between the two groups of students.

All in all, the project envisions to turn students into ambassadors of African entrepreneurship and specialists of entrepreneurial issues and techniques capable of building the next generation of pro entrepreneurial programs on the continent.