International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 4, Issue 11, November 2014 1 ISSN 2250-3153 www.ijsrp.org Innovative Policies in Technology Business Incubation: Key elements for sustainable entrepreneurship development in Nigeria Nkem Okpa Obaji * , Mercy Uche Olugu ** , Kayode O. Balogun ** * Fakulti of Management, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia ** Department of Statistics, Federal School of Statistics, Ibadan Nigeria Abstract- Entrepreneurial policies are generally enacted by governments to promote entrepreneurship and help sustain Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). However, in Nigeria, despite laudable policies, the implementation of those policies relating to entrepreneurship as well as technology incubation programme leaves a lot to be desired. Thus, the Nigerian version of business incubation is yet to attain success stories in comparison with some other developing nations. Consequently, the entrepreneurship development is also in the path of decline. Three key themes were identified, which formed the basis for developing the proposed theoretical framework. Also, several other factors that influence the success of entrepreneurship development through technology incubation were identified: infrastructure and local adaptation of the incubator model. The purpose of this study is to identify the specific elements that are crucial to the performance of Technology Business Incubation (TBI) in Nigeria. Index Terms- Business incubation, Entrepreneurship development, Government policy, Nigeria, Sustainable development I. INTRODUCTION The role of innovation in creating economic advancement by concentrating on science and technology-based knowledge cannot be overemphasized [1, 2]. Wonglimpiyarat [3, 4] also discussed the relevance of technology innovation which has been globally acknowledged as causing the emergence of sustained economic development. Ajagbe and Ismail [5] viewed technology innovation as a key stimulant for growth in both developing and developed countries. A number of programmes have been put in place to support entrepreneurship in several countries especially in the developing world. A case in point is Malaysia where innovation has been recognized as a strategy by the government to rapidly develop the country’s economy technologically [5]. In addition, a recent study conducted by [6] describe how government contribution towards developing entrepreneurship through the offering of environment conducive to business in stimulating SMEs activity. Furthermore, [7] stressed that the government of emergent countries such as Japan, China, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and India typically put in place affirmative government entrepreneurship policies that are advantageous to SMEs. However, no matter how the entrepreneurial policies may nicely sound, there must be a mechanism in place that will be used to actualize the government strategy of transforming their various countries. Technology business incubation (TBI) is one of the mechanisms used to promote entrepreneurship through SMEs. NBIA [8] describes business incubation as a business support procedure that fast-tracks the successful development of start-up and inexperienced businesses through the provision of a series of targeted resources and services to entrepreneurs. It stressed the importance of incubator management by acknowledging that the services are typically orchestrated by incubator management and offered both in the business incubator and through its network of contacts. In line with this Business Incubation is an integrated support programme offered by governments, academia and the private sector with the aim of breeding and fostering of promising value-added and technology-related ventures [9]. Phan et al [10] described incubators as a mechanism that is typically regarded as offering key contacts in the entrepreneurial value chain. The Nigerian governments of different administrations since independence have shown interest and increasing appreciation of the role of Science and Technology (S&T) in national socio- economic development. The recognition of this fact motivated the Federal Government to restore the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology (FMST) as a separate organization in 1985. Since then, Nigeria has exhausted an immense arrangement of tasks on S&T strategy advancement through a blend of determined efforts of its scientists, engineers and technologists, international cooperation and government support. In the past government has used different assistance schemes to assist in reducing the level of business failure [11, 12]. One notable feature of Nigeria’s latest (2011) strategy on science and technology is the prominence of “Innovation”, which refers to an enhancement or a completely new product, process or organizational system in the design, production and distribution of goods and services [9]. However, the number of policies that have been employed by several administrations failed to stand the test of time as a result of policy related issues including the implementation, inconsistent funding as well as government bureaucracy. Particularly, the aim of this study is to highlight the importance of government policy related to science, technology