My Motivation for applying to the International MBA Small Enterprise Promotion and Training and DAAD EPOS Scholarship at Leipzig University, Germany.

Mutiu Adebowale OYERO, I’m a Nigerian born in the city of Lagos. Here is my motivation for applying to the International MBA Small Enterprise Promotion and Training, and the DAAD EPOS Scholarship award I received to study at Leipzig University, Germany.

My obsession with Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) can be traced back to my family background. I grew up working with, and for, my parents on their small-scale enterprise, a brick-making business on which our livelihood depended. I watched as they made efforts to preserve and grow the business, albeit with no business knowledge except the keen drive to sustain the family. They experienced both failure and success like every other small business, and of the many things I learned and adapted over time, diligence and resilience stood out. Years later, as an Entrepreneurial Studies major at the University, I would look back after certain classes on how all the knowledge I had acquired could have brought better business outcomes for our brick-making factory. Thus, my utmost desire was to undertake a postgraduate program in Innovation, Management, and Entrepreneurship with professional, research, and doctoral interests in advancing strategies for MSME development in Nigeria & Africa.

DAAD EPOS Scholarship Details

The DAAD EPOS Scholarship was awarded by the German Academic Exchange Service under the EPOS programme that offers individual scholarships to participants from developing countries like Nigeria, so that they may study development-related postgraduate courses at selected universities in Germany (including Leipzig University). The scholarship award included:

• a fully funded German language preparatory course for two months,
• flight to Germany - travel allowance of 925 euros,
• annual research allowance of 460 euros paid twice,
• fully comprehensive health, accident, and personal liability insurance,
• field research allowance of 1,230 euros,
• Reimbursements of further German language course fees yearly,
• monthly scholarship instalment for 18 months (861 euros, adjusted to 904 euros then 934 euros),
• and 1,300 euros to cover study completion/travel expenses for a possible return to Nigeria (it is not compulsory to return).

Educational Background

My four-year graduate program in Entrepreneurial Studies at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (Nigeria) was nothing short of fulfilling. I learned immensely about the various aspects of different business/creative enterprises, from founding, financing, operations, to innovation-led growth stage; intermediate and international economics as well as critical analytical skills and tools necessary in identifying and exploiting opportunities, prospects & linkages across several knowledge domains. In my second year, I partook in a business plan competition organized by the faculty and won the prize for the third-best business case.

I qualified as an Associate Accounting Technician (AAT) in my second year and also received scholarship funding from Abdulkabir Aliu Foundation (AAF) in each of my last two sessions at the university. By the end of my third year, I had narrowed my focus to supporting startups and SMEs, given that at that time, a fair number of students in the wider university community were already creating business enterprises of their own. My University's mandate focuses on agriculture, a sector that employs over a third of the nation's workforce and contributes close to a fourth of the economy's size. This fact and the proliferation of agriculture-based SMEs informed my decision to concentrate my final year undergraduate research thesis on the nexus between technology entrepreneurship and the performance of agriculture-based SMEs. After the research project submission, I authored two research papers on my findings in peer-reviewed (Scopus Indexed) journals and later secured a graduate research assistantship position in my department to further expand my research competencies.

At the tail end of my degree program, I introduced and taught Business Model Canvas to a section of my colleagues who were artisans and business owners as a tool to visualize, assess, and improve their operating business models. After my degree program, I not only finished top 2% of my class (4.34 out of 5 GPA), and turned in the best academic research project, but I had also developed a keen interest in providing professional support to SMEs.

How Did You Prepare to Apply to Leipzig University & DAAD EPOS Scholarship?

The steps I took to prepare my application involved:

• Read about the application process, eligibility criteria, required application documents, master programme curriculum, the faculty and their research areas, on the SEPT Competence Centre at Leipzig University website, as well as the DAAD scholarship database.
• Sent an email to the programme coordinator (found this on the application page too) to ask questions about my eligibility for the programme, and I sent several follow-up emails regarding processes that I did not understand, such as certification of my transcripts and certificates, recommendation/reference letters, etc.
• Drafted my CV using the Europass template (total number of pages was 5). I outlined my profile, formal education, further education (like online courses), work experience, research experience, langauge, organisational/management, digital & key technical skills, my publications, conference presentations, personal & work projects/portfolio, seminars, honors & awards, professional memberships, list of short courses, certificate programmes, and reference details.
• Drafted my letter of motivation using the DAAD guide on how to write a motivation letter and asked a friend to review it. Received feedback and prepared the final draft after a month.
• Collected recommendation letters, one from my Employer (CEO), and another from my undergraduate thesis supervisor & Lecturer (both letters were A4 two-page documents). These two letters also served as proof of my work experience because my recommenders stated how long I worked with them (over two years) in their letters.
• Certified copies of my secondary/high school certificate, official undergraduate transcript, and certificates at the German embassy in Nigeria (in Lagos & Abuja)
• Collected an English as a medium of instruction from my university (the Federal Ministry of Education, Nigeria) to prove my English proficiency. No IELTS/TOEFL/GMAT/GRE was taken.
• Filled and submitted the DAAD scholarship application form with all the drafted documents listed above merged into one PDF.

How Is (was) Your Experience at Leipzig University?

The structure of the International MBA SEPT offered by Leipzig University, a leading university renowned for top-class research, greatly intrigued me. One of the most exciting prospects of the program for me is the opportunity to conduct research in Nigeria's MSME sector after being immersed in Leipzig’s rich entrepreneurial ecosystem  – a high-tech centre and home to unicorn businesses, including Co-working spaces, SpinLab, Impact Hub, HHL Digital Space, Startbahn 13, among others.

I always looked forward to a genuinely immersive, intensive, challenging, and transformative learning and research experience as well as a practical training opportunity. It broadened my horizons on local economy development as I also gained insights into the success of Mittelstand amongst several real cases of SMEs to develop both an intelligent business decision-making mindset & skill sets. Given the program's support, my research thesis uncovered the unexplored potentials and brought about new knowledge frontiers in innovation management within the context of SMEs, and the global value chain integration in my home country's MSME sector.

I was equally excited about study visits/tours and the possibility of undertaking an international post-study internship to put newly acquired skills to use, such as the Carlo Schmid Program and within institutions like KFW, Sequa gGmbH, GIZ, Motion Lab - Berlin, Sparkasse Stiftung, AFG, ADG International, and IDOS to gain a more comprehensive understanding of SMEs in international and multicultural contexts.

How Do You Rate Leipzig University Academically and Why?

Pursuing an MBA in Small Enterprise Promotion has given me the expertise required for a promising career in SME innovation practice in Nigeria & Africa, leading to the emergence of an internationally competitive MSME sub-sector. I look to achieve this through impact programs and services tailored to provide market engagement activities, specialist advice, a capacity-building program for innovation, and enterprise funding.

I would leverage initiatives led by German institutions including AfricaConnect, and DEG’s developPPP & Tony Elumelu Foundation entrepreneurship program partnership, as well as initiatives for more excellence in university research, innovation and internationalisation that include AGEA - African German Entrepreneurship Academy, iN4iN - Intelligence For Innovation, EU Horizon - Research and Innovation program, and ACCESS - African Centre for Career Enhancement and Skills Support. It is equally my long-term goal as an entrepreneurship policy faculty to advance key SME-friendly policies in technology, research and development, institutional/regulatory framework, business support services, human capital development, and financing.

How Does Leipzig University Support International Students?

There are opportunities like the Born Global Startup Community, Festival & Meetups, SMILE Startup Initiative, EXIST Startup grants, International Online Marketing Challenge (OMC), Export Management Advanced Training (EMAT) and International Startup Campus events to connect and network with entrepreneurs, brilliant young professionals, outstanding faculty, professors and alumni that bring diverse people together, as well as the cross-fertilization of ideas that lights up the learning environment. I firmly believe that the highly diverse, dynamic academic landscape combined with unlimited access to the job market in Germany (the heart of Europe) especially in the area of SME led-business sector R&D (over 63% in the business sector well above the proportion of R&D workforce in China) will afford me lifelong career success in my chosen field.

Are Your Classes Conducted in English or German?

My master's programme classes, assignments, examinations, workshops & research were conducted in English.

Would Potential Students Have Any Problems Academically, Not Knowing German?

My master's programme class was quite international with students from Africa, Latin America, West & South East Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Therefore, potential students who don’t speak German can excel academically.

What Do You Think Made Your Application Stand Out?

I did very deep research about the programme and I was able to make a compelling personal statement through my motivation letter, CV, as well as the recommendation letters. Also, I mention some development contexts about my home country, Nigeria, in the motivation letter.

“Over half of the Nigerian economy is driven by flourishing entrepreneurs in micro, small, and medium enterprises, creating more than 80% of all new jobs, and they play a tremendous role in even re-distribution and economic diversification (UNDP/SMEDAN National MSMEs Policy, 2020). This finding and the potential these businesses can reach with the right support services cemented my interest in SMEs….My firm conviction has remained that SMEs are key to unlocking the full potential of any economy, especially in the developing world. The SEPT programme properly positions graduates to provide support to entrepreneurs and corporates towards making effective decisions that will foster innovation and growth that will, this time, not only be crucial to the survival of their family but the entire economy. “

I also owned up to my personal story throughout, from the application stage to being shortlisted for a scholarship, and my interview with the programme coordinator.

“Intrigued by the inclination of youths towards innovation and change, I provide leadership by my directorship position for Africatedpreneurs …… coordinated a free educational program for over 1000 students across 5 secondary schools in both South-Western & Northern Nigeria. Upon graduation, I set out to enrich myself intellectually. In the process, I completed relevant Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), published several articles, and made presentations at conferences … I also had two business development internships in separate consulting firms that lasted over 9 months. By the end of these engagements, my ……. skills had greatly improved. I joined Founders Hub NG, a business incubator, in 2019 as a program associate, subsequently appointed to Academy Lead and progressed to the position of Programme Lead within a year……. In 2020, I applied, qualified, and completed the Global Savvy Fellowship program…….I can sum up what matters most to me: “knowledge for prosperity”, and to live a life of impact and influence.”

What Would You Have Done Differently if You Were Going Through the Process Again?

I would have connected and reached out to previous MBA SEPT-DAAD scholars on LinkedIn for a call to get their feedback on my application documents, as well as getting to know about the study life & living in Leipzig, Germany.

What Advice Would You Give Those Looking to Apply for a Similar Scholarship?

• Create your own interesting and unique storyline where no one else could. Until then, you will be confident that your essay will bring you to the interview stage and beat the final stage.
• Focus and reflect on your experience and achievements.
• Set a high aim for your future and be confident about it.
• Don’t limit your dream because this is what the scholarship committee wants to see from you.
• Be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound)

Uniqueness is defined by:

• Real situation and challenges in your own country (that fits with the program)
• Your proposed solution, combined with your experience
• Your ambition: on how you tackle those challenges and make a big impact