“Millennials empowerment: examining youth entrepreneurship development in policy and practise”, Ikedinachi Ogamba
Ikedinachi Ogamba University of Strathclyde Business School, UK ikedinachi.ogamba@strath.ac.uk
DOI: 10.47556/B.OUTLOOK2018.16.18
Purpose: This paper contributes to knowledge and theory building in youth empowerment and entrepreneurship development.
Design/methodology/approach: The paper critically examines the Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YouWiN) Programme and its relevance as a youth economic empowerment programme through the lenses of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Youth Strategy entry points for promoting economic empowerment of youth.
Findings: While YouWiN is a significant intervention towards entrepreneurship development, it presents some flaws and limitations in the design and implementation process, which may challenge sustainable economic development. Hence, there is a need to explore the millennials empowerment paradigm in the light of three key complementary actionoriented approaches to youth entrepreneurship development.
Originality/value: Three key complementary action-oriented approaches to youth entrepreneurship policy/programme design, implementation and evaluation for government, private and voluntary sector are proposed. These are in the form of facilitating participatory engagement and diversity, managing drivers (push/pull factors) of entrepreneurship, and ensuring access to enablers/support. The author highlights the need for further debate and critical inputs to improve theory building towards a normative framework in youth empowerment and entrepreneurship. This will not only reduce poverty, but also promote intergenerational equity and sustainable development.
Keywords: Youth; entrepreneurship; empowerment; economic development; sustainability; theory building
