Using the third Chadian survey on consumption and the informal sector (ECOSIT III), this study
aims to assess the relationship between education language choice and entrepreneurship in
Chad. By education language choice, we mean the choice between education in Arabic
and education in French. Specifically, the study seeks to evaluate the effect of language of
instruction on self-employment. To achieve this objective, we make use of a recursive
vicariate profit model to tackle the endogeneity of education choice. Moreover, the
propensity score matching approach is also used to check for the robustness of results. Three
main conclusions are derived from the analysis: first, those youth who choose Arabic language education are more likely to be an entrepreneur. Second, youth are more likely to
be self-employed in Chad. Third, the probability to be self-employed is higher for men than
women. Based on this evidence, relevant recommendations are provided to help the
Chadian government and their partners to help to design appropriate policies to foster youth
entrepreneurship in Chad.
