Redefining Entrepreneurial Learning Paradigms in Developing Countries

Abstract

In a rapidly changing world of knowledge exchange, innovation and technological advancements, entrepreneurship continues to fuel economic growth in both developed and developing countries. In the developed world, an increased influx of graduate entrepreneurs sustains economic growth whilst, in contrast, developing countries continue to suffer from a dearth of entrepreneurial learning mechanisms. To remedy this situation in Ghana a collaborative and interdisciplinary venture, involving the Business School of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and an international panel of experts, has developed the Kite Vision Actualization Laboratory (KVAL). The raison d'être of the KVAL is to support and nurture talent, develop and implement business solutions and innovations, encourage the development of entrepreneurial undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and stimulate graduate business start-ups. The KVAL integrates four development stages of entrepreneurial learning: knowledge transfer and exchange; innovations and inventions; technology and enterprise development; and panel review, assessment and final approval protocols. The innovative KVAL framework mirrors demand-led transformation and self-actualization processes that represent a departure from traditional offerings in entrepreneurship education.