Exploring Migration Intention as an Entrepreneurial Barrier in Anambra StateManafa Grace Uzoamaka

Abstract

Anambra State is widely regarded as one of Nigeria's most commercially vibrant states, with a population historically associated with strong entrepreneurial orientation and trading culture. Yet in recent years, the state has also become a significant source of youth emigration, popularly referred to as "Japa Syndrome", raising the question of how the intention to migrate interacts with, and potentially undermines, local entrepreneurial activity. This paper explores migration intention as an entrepreneurial barrier among prospective and early-stage entrepreneurs in Anambra State. Anchored in the theoretical frameworks of the theory of planned behaviour and push-pull migration theory, the paper draws on a qualitative synthesis of entrepreneurship, migration, and youth-employment literature to examine how a strong disposition toward emigration shapes individuals' willingness to invest time, capital, and long-term commitment into local business ventures. The paper argues that migration intention functions as a distinct behavioural barrier to entrepreneurship, operating through mechanisms including short-term planning horizons, reduced willingness to reinvest profits locally, diversion of capital toward migration costs, and a general disposition to treat local enterprise as a temporary or transitional activity rather than a long-term commitment. The paper further considers how this dynamic interacts with the more commonly studied structural barriers to entrepreneurship in Nigeria, such as inadequate access to finance, infrastructural deficits, and regulatory bottlenecks, suggesting that migration intention may compound rather than simply coexist with these constraints. It concludes with recommendations for entrepreneurship policy and support programmes that explicitly account for the migration-intention dimension of youth economic behaviour in Anambra State.