Why Entrepreneurship Education Implementation Fails to Translate into Entrepreneurial Intentions: The Mediating Role of Entrepreneurial Attitude in Sub-Saharan Africa

Emmanuel Ahimbisibwe, Burani Aluonzi, Ezra Francis Munyambonera, Kaaya Siraje
Kabale University, P.O. Box 317, Kabale, Uganda
https://orcid.org/0009-0003-9421-771X
Email: ahimbisibweemmanuel@yahoo.com

Abstract: Entrepreneurship education has been widely adopted across higher education systems in Sub-Saharan Africa as a response to youth unemployment and constrained wage employment. Despite this expansion, entrepreneurial intentions among graduates remain persistently low, raising concerns about the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education implementation. This narrative literature review examines why the implementation of entrepreneurship education often fails to translate into entrepreneurial intentions, focusing on the mediating role of entrepreneurial attitude. The review synthesises empirical, conceptual, and policy-oriented studies published between 1991 and 2025. Guided by intention-based models, the synthesis shows that the implementation of entrepreneurship education frequently improves entrepreneurial knowledge and awareness but does not consistently foster positive entrepreneurial attitudes, the most proximal predictors of entrepreneurial intention. Pedagogical practices remain largely theory-driven and assessment-oriented, with limited emphasis on experiential, reflective, and affective learning, which are necessary for attitude formation. In Sub-Saharan Africa, this limitation is compounded by contextual constraints, including necessity-driven entrepreneurship, limited access to finance, weak institutional support, and high perceived risk, which further undermine the development of entrepreneurial attitudes. Methodologically, the literature is dominated by cross-sectional designs that insufficiently interrogate mediation pathways linking implementation processes to intention outcomes. Conceptually, this review foregrounds entrepreneurial attitude as the central mechanism explaining the persistent intention gap, rather than exposure to entrepreneurship education alone. The study concludes that without deliberate alignment of entrepreneurship education implementation toward attitude formation, entrepreneurship education is unlikely to generate sustained entrepreneurial intentions in Sub-Saharan Africa.