Project rationale

This is where our journey started ! The research consortium between Sciences Po and the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) aims to contribute to entrepreneurial development in Africa by identifying past, current and future pro entrepreneurial academic best practices that may be improved and replicated at Sciences Po, AIMS but also in other African academic institutions.

The objective being to equip African graduates with the best assets to turn them in successful entrepreneurs and the leaders of African so-needed national champions.

Our theory of change rests on the belief that those academic practices, be it entrepreneurial education or the transfer to students of pro entrepreneurial assets, are deemed to increase the capacities of graduates to launch entrepreneurial ventures, succeed and generate positive social externalities such as innovation, jobs created, and value added.

In order to achieve those goals, the research team will leverage the experience and feelings of African alumni from Sciences Po, AIMS and other comparable institutions who decided to launch an entrepreneurial career or who had business experience. In the light of their entrepreneurial career, the idea being that they are well-suited to assess the quality and appropriateness of curricula but also emerging needs in entrepreneurial education.

The research team’s quest will be structured along key reseach outcomes.

First, the study will attempt to understand the quality of pro entrepreneurial and managerial curricula within Sciences-Po, AIMS and other academic institutions and their ability to promote professional integration and entrepreneurial success. Beyond assessing the impact of first generation entrepreneurial courses centered on core entrepreneurial skills, the research project will study the needs in terms of second generation entrepreneurial courses providing Scholars with skills to influence their entrepreneurial ecosystem, manage pro entrepreneurial institutions or influence policies affecting entrepreneurship.

Secondly and beyond courses, the research team also envisions to understand the impact of other mechanisms aimed at supporting Scholars building their entrepreneurial capabilities (in tangible or intangible forms). As a matter of fact grants, professional networks or incbators represent some catalysts of entrepreneurial education whereas entrepreneurial education alone could fail to deliver all its promises.

Finally, the Sciences Po - AIMS research team will draw recommendations for decision makers on how to better tailor programs aimed at reinforcing the capabilities of Scholars through tangible and intangible assets for other institutions within the MasterCard Program and African academic universities. More insights on the project can be found in a list of questions defining the project or in the project objectives.

The project rationale

The Team

About AIMS and Sciences Po

Entrepreneurial Education at Sciences Po and AIMS