The impact of entrepreneurship education and government support on SME performance in Montserrado County, Liberia

Abstract

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are vital in driving employment, creating jobs, and overall growth of many economies worldwide. In Liberia, they account for nearly 80% of economic activities. However, their growth and sustainability face major challenges such as a competitive, resource-constrained business setting, and limited entrepreneurial knowledge among owners, leading to failure rates of 80–90% within the first year of operation. This study, considering these challenges, investigated the impact of entrepreneurship education (EE) and government support (GS) on SME performance (SMEP) in Montserrado County, Liberia. The conducive external business environment (CEBE) and Entrepreneurial alertness (EA) were examined as the moderating and mediating variables, respectively, in the relationship between EE and SMEP. A quantitative, descriptive cross-sectional design was used to gather primary data through structured surveys from 371 SME owners who had received EE or related trainings and GS. The data were analyzed using the IBM SPSS, employing descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), correlation, regression, and structural equation modelling (SEM) to assess the relationships among variables and validate the study’s hypotheses. Findings revealed that EE significantly enhances SMEP, highlighting its crucial role in developing entrepreneurial capacity. However, neither a CEBE nor EA significantly moderated or mediated the EE and SMEP relationship. Also, both GS, government financial support (GFS) and government non-financial support (GNS) impacts were surprisingly found negative on SMEP. This points to weaknesses in policy implementation and support program design, emphasizing the urgent need for targeted reforms to promote the accessibility, relevance, and quality of GS, coupled with a stronger entrepreneurial ecosystem. The study recommends that the government should strengthen sector-specific advisory services, enhance inter- agency coordination, and do continuous monitoring to foster inclusive economic growth and SME resilience in Liberia’s challenging post-conflict context.