EFFECTIVENESS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT TO EMPLOYMENT PROMOTION AND POVERTY REDUCTION IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is widely regarded as a critical lever for employment generation and poverty alleviation in developing economies. This study examines the effectiveness of entrepreneurship development in promoting employment and reducing poverty in Nigeria over 1990-2025, addressing the persistent gap between decades of policy commitment, exemplified by the National Directorate of Employment, and continuing high unemployment and poverty. Using annual time-series data from the Central Bank of Nigeria, World Development Indicators, and National Bureau of Statistics, the study applies Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds-testing models to employment and poverty as functions of entrepreneurship-related expenditure, capital formation, inflation, and unemployment. Results confirm long-run cointegration in both models. Entrepreneurship related expenditure significantly boosts employment, correcting 98.7% of short-run disequilibrium annually; poverty results remain inconclusive due to diagnostic anomalies. The study concludes that entrepreneurship development is effective, though not self-sustaining, and recommends ring-fenced financing and stronger interagency coordination.