Entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention in a turbulent environment: The mediating role of entrepreneurial skills

This study examines the impact of entrepreneurship learning on individual propensities to entrepreneurial activities in the context of a turbulent environment. The paper draws from a cross-sectional survey of 331 students of the University of Maiduguri in Maiduguri Northeast Nigeria, and Bayero University Kano, in Northwest Nigeria — both cities heavily affected by conflict and terrorist insurgency. The results of the structural equation modelling indicate that the impact of entrepreneurship education (EE) on entrepreneurial intention is fully mediated by entrepreneurial and management skills. Further, the results show that entrepreneurial skills have significant impacts on respondents’ risk taking and self-efficacy, and EE is an effective moderator of political instability in the sense that EE weakens the negative impact of perceived political instability on entrepreneurial intention. By bringing together the interactions of entrepreneurship education with individual attributes and environmental factors, the paper makes a significant contribution to a new body of research examining the impact of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial and micro/small business development in sub-Saharan Africa and conflict contexts. It also highlights the importance of entrepreneurship development as part of a multi-faceted policy intervention in conflict contexts characterised by widespread youth unemployment and alienation from the State.