Developing Entrepreneurial Universities in Africa

Abstract

The urgency to reform the functioning of universities has mounted in virtually every part of the world. In the case of Africa, the need to promote entrepreneurial universities has been advanced as the only way to enable these institutions of higher learning to achieve their set visions and missions. In the 21st century, universities in Africa have been faced with extreme financial austerity and management crisis; this has put into question the quality of programmes being offered. In addition, it has led to invisible and visible brain drain and brain mobility. This paper interrogates the role of entrepreneurship as a reform agenda for universities in Africa. The guiding argument is that there is need to re-evaluate the creation of entrepreneurial universities as a way of enabling them attain their core functions of teaching, research and service. This is important in lieu of the fact that some policy makers think that entrepreneurial universities will reduce the role of the state in the financing of universities in Africa