A disproportionately large percentage of sub–Saharan African economies are over–burdened with mounting and persistent social and economic hardships. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted that beyond 2020, a further 32 million people in sub–Saharan Africa will be living in poverty. Notwithstanding vital donations provided by non–governmental organizations, largely from the West and China, could there be an African solution involving entrepreneurship and innovation for the region’s problems? Based on this academic question, the workshop organized by the AfrIE Research HUB and Nottingham Business School in collaboration with OMNES Education Research Center seeks to initiate scholarly and practitioner conversations on entrepreneurship and innovation as alternative pathways for tackling these hardships.

During a two–day workshop, various discussions on this seemingly urgent matter will follow panel and roundtable formats. Identified audiences, including PhD students, early–career researchers, and established scholars, will be invited to share, through presentations, their research ideas on the potentials of entrepreneurship and innovation as alternative pathways for dealing with Africa’s social and economic problems.