Entrepreneurship as a 21st-century innovation strategy for mitigating global poverty and sustainable development

This study investigates the role of entrepreneurship as a 21st-century innovation strategy for mitigating global poverty and sustainable development. Three research questions guided the study. Grounded in Schumpeter’s theory of innovation, which emphasizes the entrepreneur's role in driving economic transformation through new combinations, the research employs an ex-post facto research design. Secondary data were utilized for the study sourced from the World Bank database. The study employed descriptive statistics to examine the current state of entrepreneurial activities, correlation analysis to evaluate the relationship between entrepreneurship and poverty reduction, and regression analysis to assess the contribution of entrepreneurship toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal 1. Findings from the study revealed that entrepreneurial activities increased across the region, even though they are unevenly distributed and predominantly informal. A moderate negative correlation was observed between entrepreneurship and poverty levels, indicating that regions with higher entrepreneurial engagement tend to experience lower poverty rates. Regression analysis showed that entrepreneurship significantly contributes to progress on SDG 1 targets, particularly in employment creation and income generation. Based on these findings, the study recommends that governments and development partners prioritize strengthening entrepreneurial ecosystems particularly access to finance, skills training, and supportive regulatory frameworks to maximize entrepreneurship's potential as a sustainable poverty alleviation in sub-Saharan Africa.