ABSTRACT
Two approaches often used by countries for economic growth and development are that of entrepreneurship and foreign direct investment (FDI). There are no guarantees, however, that either FDI or entrepreneurship programs will produce the desired economic development miracle that is being sought. The success of either approach will depend on proper implementation of policies and a number of factors that are specific to a particular environment. For chances of better development results, theories and lessons from success examples should also be employed and applied as is necessary. Compared to China, India and other Asian countries, or the BRIC countries, it is obvious that sub-Saharan Africa has lagged behind in terms of general development during the globalization era. Most of Africa’s GDP, living standards and other leading development indicators, by comparison, are relatively low. Part of this low-level performance could be traced to ineffective governance and inadequacies in key sectors. As an example, since its independence in 1960 Nigeria has embarked on a number of well-formulated and high-budget but low-yielding development plans, with the latest plan aimed at reaching a developed country status by the year 2020. This eclectic study scans and examines the constraints for FDI and entrepreneurship development within the Nigerian environment. By observing theories and gathering facts from various sources, including international business, entrepreneurship, economics, public opinion, as well as other related literature publications, lessons are drawn from other country experiences and related these to the Nigerian context. The study concludes that, in addition to the number of internal and external deficiencies identified and poor standards observed, some structural issues would have to be improved and addressed, otherwise the aims of the Vision 2020 as a development platform for Nigeria will remain elusive.
