The
University of Abuja (UofA) was established as a dual-mode university with the
mandate to run both conventional and distance learning academic programmes. It was
the first University in the country to assume such a dual mandate at inception
Welcome to Centre for Entrepreneurship Development
CENTRE FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT (CED)
About Us
The University of Abuja Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (UNACED) is a development intervention arm of the University. It aims to foster an entrepreneurial society through generation, dissemination and application of knowledge needed to engender entrepreneurial culture among the youth and other agents of change for rapid and sustainable economic development.
Director’s Message
I welcome you to the Centre for Entrepreneurial Development of our University. We are one of the leading Centres in entrepreneurship promotion in Nigeria. Our Unit was established in 2007 when the Federal Government of Nigeria directed that entrepreneurship education should be mainstreamed into the curricula and programmes of institutions of higher learning in the country.
The Centre offers a unique opportunity to learn entrepreneurship in a modern Nigerian University with penchant for innovation and excellence. The goal is to tackle the scourge of unemployment and foster economic development through education and training of a new generation of youths who can become job creators as opposed to job seekers in the emerging global knowledge economy.
The philosophy of the Centre is inspired by the awareness, as variously articulated in the concept of developmental university, that for developing countries’ ivory tower to make meaningful impact, orientation must shift from the classical doctrine of production of knowledge for knowledge sake to developmental doctrine of production and transformation of knowledge for development.
In responding to this challenge, our activities at the Centre place emphasis on the twin role of education and enterprise in fostering development. Currently, entrepreneurship courses are taught to all students from entry to final level and a number of enterprise simulation activities are organised to enrich and facilitate the desired learning outcome.
We have forged closer ties with major players in the development community. Our experts have also obtained valuable experiences working for several multilateral agencies. We hope to build more of these network advantages in the hope that such assets would help us bridge the gap between education and enterprise.
Philosophy
Our philosophy is inspired by the concept of entrepreneurial university which advocates for an expanded mission beyond the traditional boundaries of teaching and research to incorporating entrepreneurial activism in service delivery.
To this end, University of Abuja Centre for Entrepreneurship Development’s (UNACED) intervention strategy prioritises educating, training and mentoring its program participants to generate ideas and translate them to startup companies and other ventures in order to spur growth of the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Vision
To become a model of best-practise in entrepreneurship development intervention.
Mission
To inculcate, in our programme participants, entrepreneurial mindset and skills needed for recognising and capitalising on entrepreneurial opportunities.
To build, in our programme participants, knowledge and skill capacity for starting and operating a business.
To help researchers conceptualise and translate laboratory and other discoveries to breakthrough innovative products and services.
To facilitate transfer of project ideas to startup companies and ventures
To enhance the capacity of practising entrepreneurs to upgrade their business operations
Activities
Activities in the Centre are organised around 3 broad categories:
Conceptualisation: This involves promotion of research efforts to uncover customer needs and foster discoveries of innovative products and services to serve those needs. In this regard, specific tasks would include among others: research undertaking, supporting faculty members to transform their discoveries and research output to innovative product and services and business plan competition
Education and Training: Objective of our entrepreneurship education and training activities is to impart entrepreneurial knowledge and skills on potential and practising entrepreneurs. Specific tasks include, among others: running degree/certificate awarding programmes in the area of entrepreneurship, teaching entrepreneurship courses to students enrolled in other regular university programmes, organising mentorship and internship training programmes and collaborating with external agencies to facilitate entrepreneurship learning.
Enterprise Simulation: The focus of this set of activities is to facilitate the migration of our clients’ status from aspiring to practising entrepreneurs. Main tasks include: running science parks and incubators to foster the creation of startup firms, partnering with other nodes in the innovation ecosystem such as financial institutions, governmental agencies among others to translate project ideas to startup companies and ventures.
