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This study aims to examine the relationship between mentorship, innovation and entrepreneurship performance in Africa’s largest economy. This study argues that mentorship and innovation play significant roles in driving entrepreneurship performance in the country. It explores the impact of mentorship on entrepreneurial development, including the transmission of knowledge, skills and networks.

This study analyzes the role of innovation in fostering entrepreneurial growth and competitiveness, particularly in the context of Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy. The authors engaged data obtained from the Youth Enterprise with Innovation (2019) and made use of the propensity score matching.

The findings suggest that effective mentorship programs and innovative approaches can enhance entrepreneurial performance, promote economic growth and contribute to sustainable development in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy.

The literature on entrepreneurship in Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria, has mainly focused on factors such as access to finance, the business environment and government policies, with limited research on the role of mentorship and innovation in entrepreneurship performance. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on entrepreneurship in Nigeria, particularly on the role of mentorship and innovation in entrepreneurship performance.

To mitigate uncertainties in the labour market, it has been argued that technology diffusion in entrepreneurship drive is essential to increase employment capacity. Against this backdrop, this study examined how social entrepreneurship and technology diffusion impact future employment in Nigeria. In addition, this study aims to contribute to the policy dialogue for the realisation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of decent work and economic growth (SDG-8) and industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG-9).

The data from the youth entrepreneurship with innovation (YouWiN) baseline survey was used. The study applied propensity score matching to achieve its objectives. This study defines social entrepreneurship as firms established solely to create social values. Similarly, technology diffusion is captured by the firm’s ownership of a website and communication with clients through email, while future employment is captured by the estimated number of people the business may employ in the next five years, if still in operation.

The results from the study show that social entrepreneurship and technology diffusion has a significant impact on future employment. The result implies that social entrepreneurship may contribute approximately 21% to the employment level in the future. Similarly, technology diffusion – ownership of a website and communication with clients through email increase the firm’s ability to contribute to future employment by 65% and 71%, respectively.

One of the limitations of the research is that the study is quantitative in nature. Thus, qualitative information that could have added additional value to the study was not considered. As a recommendation, further studies should consider using a mixed method by adding qualitative information while examining the concept of social entrepreneurship and employment.

These findings suggest that ownership of a website, communicating with clients via email and involvement in social entrepreneurship contribute significantly to future employment in Nigeria. This finding shows that social entrepreneurship is crucial for reducing future employment uncertainties. Social enterprises will enhance the capacity of the economy to attain sustainable economic development. Therefore, the study concludes by recommending that policies to enhance social entrepreneurship awareness and promotion should be implanted to expand the knowledge of social enterprise as a unique business entity that drives employment.

These findings suggest that ownership of a website, communicating with clients via email and involvement in social entrepreneurship contribute significantly to future employment in Nigeria. This finding shows that social entrepreneurship is crucial for reducing future employment uncertainties. Social enterprises will enhance the capacity of the economy to attain sustainable economic development. Therefore, the study concludes by recommending that policies to enhance social entrepreneurship awareness and promotion should be implanted to expand the knowledge of social enterprise as a unique business entity that drives employment.

Though prior studies have examined the contribution of entrepreneurship to employment; however, integration of technology diffusion in the concept of social entrepreneurship and employment literature is relatively sparse. Therefore, this study fills this gap by investigating how the diffusion of technology by social entrepreneurs impacts future employment in Nigeria.