Many developed countries have gone through many transitions in the economic development of their nations. Many of these transitional progresses was greatly in the informal sectors were most informal tradesmen and women in the traditional setup were formalized and absorbed into the formal system. In many developing countries especially in Africa, a large amount of the youth are engaged in these informal roadside artisanal works, many literature exists on the presence of this informal sector but However, little empirical research exists on the formalization of these roadside artisans, especially in Africa. This paper addresses this gap by exploring the idea of formalizing roadside auto-mechanics for national development using the entrepreneurial training approach, from the Ghanaian context. The primary objective is to establish the extent to which, formalizing the role of roadside artisans will acts as an enabler to national development. A hypothesis was tested to ascertain if formalizing roadside artisans has a tendency for national development. Mixed-methods approach was used to collect data from 648 respondents. The approach is justified because it ensures data triangulation, and increases the credibility of research findings. The findings revealed that practical entrepreneurial training is new to students in Ghana. Few students are exposed to practical entrepreneurial training have acquired entrepreneurial skills and knowledge, which resulted in they setting up their own businesses. The findings have implications on growth and development of the economies of the continent by creation new and innovative jobs thereby reducing unemployment. With such huge potentials, the study recommends that tertiary institutions should have entrepreneurial Centre for practical sessions. Additionally, African governments must increase budgetary allocation for practical entrepreneurial training to reduce the number of graduates in search for non-existent jobs. These recommendations could be addressed by the development of policies on education to include the compulsory provision of practical entrepreneurial training to students. This paper should reignite the debate about the lack of governmental support for entrepreneurial training for students across Africa. © 2018 Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited. All rights reserved.
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