Pooled Longitudinal Dataset on the Assessment of an Apprenticeship-based Entrepreneurship Intervention in Nigeria

This dataset presents longitudinal data collected through four surveys – baseline, midline1, midline2 and endline – of fresh graduates who underwent the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme across ten states in Nigeria. The data were collected from 21,940 unique young men and women who underwent compulsory one-year national service after graduating from universities and polytechnics across Nigeria.

The surveys were designed for a longitudinal study to assess the impact of the Skills Acquisition and Enterpreneurship Development (SAED) programme of the NYSC, which is the largest apprenticeship-based entrepreneurship intervention for young people in Nigeria, and arguably in Africa. The surveys sought to fully profile the entrepreneurship and apprenticeship characteristics of the graduates, their experience and assessment of the SAED programme, as well as assess the impacts of the SAED programme. The surveys were collected at roughly 6-month interval across the ten selected states, including a baseline survey in November 2020 when the respondents were newly mobilized for their service and were having the Orientation programme on the camps, two follow-up surveys respectively in April and October 2021, and an endline survey in April 2022 after the respondents had exited the NYSC scheme for about six months.

The usefulness of the dataset is many folds. One, the dataset can be used to assess the impacts of the over-a-decade-old introduction of compulsory entrepreneurship training into the Nigerian university system that produced most of the respondents. Two, it can also be used to quantify the potential pool of future entrepreneurs among highly educated Nigerian youth. Three, the design and impacts of the SAED programme of the NYSC can be gauged using the dataset. The full entrepreneurship and apprenticeship profile of a representative sample of educated young people in the largest and most populous nation in Africa is useful for researchers, donors and policymakers in characterizing and designing appropriate interventions to boost self-employment as a way of reaping Africa’s demographic dividend.

本数据集收录了针对尼日利亚10个州参与国家青年服务团（National Youth Service Corps, NYSC）项目的应届毕业生开展的四轮纵向追踪调查数据，分别为基线调查、首轮中期调查、次轮中期调查与终线调查。数据采集自21940名独立受访青年男女，他们在尼日利亚各地大学及理工学院毕业后，需完成为期一年的强制性国家服务。

本调查为纵向研究，旨在评估NYSC的技能习得与创业发展（Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development, SAED）项目的影响——该项目是尼日利亚乃至全非洲规模最大的基于学徒制的青年创业干预计划。调查旨在全面刻画毕业生的创业与学徒制特征、其对SAED项目的体验与评价，并评估该项目的实际影响。四轮调查间隔约6个月，覆盖上述10个州：基线调查于2020年11月开展，彼时受访者刚被动员参与服务，正在营地接受入职培训；后续两轮中期调查分别于2021年4月与10月开展；终线调查则于2022年4月开展，此时受访者已退出NYSC项目约6个月。

本数据集的应用价值多元：其一，可用于评估尼日利亚高校体系推行逾十年的强制性创业培训的影响——本次调查的多数受访者均毕业于该体系；其二，可用于量化尼日利亚高学历青年中潜在未来创业者的规模；其三，可用于研判NYSC的SAED项目的设计效果与实际影响。针对非洲人口最多、体量最大的国家，本数据集提供了具有代表性的高学历青年群体的完整创业与学徒制画像，可为研究人员、资助方与政策制定者刻画群体特征、设计合理干预措施提供支撑，以推动自主就业，进而挖掘非洲的人口红利。