Sustainability and Scalability of Igbo Apprenticeship System in South East Nigeria: Prospects and Problems

Igbo Apprenticeship System (IAS) is a traditional institution in Southeastern Nigeria for developing human capital, entrepreneurship, skills transmission, and the creation of employment. Its feasibility and potential for scaling up are controversial. Mixed-method design was used in this research, which incorporated surveys (n = 360) of Abia, Anambra, and Enugu States with observation, focus groups, and interviews. Human Capital Theory was applied as our Theoretical framework. Findings showed that IAS had substantial effects on business ownership (68%, p< .01), survival of businesses (76%, p< .01), self-reliance (80%, p<.01), and unemployment reduction (75%, p< .01) from the formulated hypotheses empirical evidence further verifies that IAS has unmatched scalability potential and can be scaled out everywhere in Nigeria if implemented in national entrepreneurship, vocational training, education, and human capital policy. The research contributes to cultural economics and human capital literature since it proposes IAS as a scalable, indigenously driven system that has the capability to generate a sustainable development agenda, institutionally and economically.