ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This study examines the impact of entrepreneurship development, encompassing
entrepreneurship training, ease of doing business, digital entrepreneurship, and institutional
quality, on unemployment from 1990 to 2024. Using time-series data from the National Bureau of
Statistics, the World Bank Development Indicators, the National Information Technology
Development Agency, and the Central Bank of Nigeria, the study employs multiple regression
analysis, complemented by diagnostic tests for normality, serial correlation, heteroskedasticity,
and model specification. Results reveal that government expenditure on entrepreneurship training
significantly reduces unemployment, while improvements in the ease of doing business exert a
positive but weaker effect. Digital entrepreneurship emerges as a strong negative predictor of
unemployment, underscoring the employment potential of Nigeria’s growing digital economy. In
contrast, institutional quality shows no statistically significant relationship with unemployment,
highlighting the persistence of governance and infrastructural gaps. The findings underscore the
need for sustained investment in entrepreneurial capacity building, digital skills development, and
institutional reforms to harness the full job-creating potential of entrepreneurship in Nigeria.