Business simulation, a virtual business learning tool, will boost start-ups and equip Nigerian tertiary institution students with relevant skills to become self-employed after graduation, an Irish-trained international business management expert has stated.
The Lead Product Manager and Co-Founder, Sim-Plement, Nigeria, Mr Oladimeji Oluseyi, said this while speaking with journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Oluseyi said the development of the business simulation tailored to the Nigerian economy would bridge the gap between theory and practice and assist business and entrepreneurship majors in starting businesses.
According to him, the simulation is a real-world corporation model featuring a virtual group comprising the chief executive officer, human resources, finance, marketing, operations, and other departments, as in the case of a real-world enterprise, operating in a risk-free business environment where participants can access a certain amount of virtual funds.
He added that the participants may lose virtual money (not real money) while running the virtual business, and a lecturer would explain to them why they incurred the losses, since they had already learned the theory.
He said: “As I said earlier, virtual funds are assigned for the simulation, and we teach participants how to manage the funds and the resources. For instance, if you have N100,000, pertinent questions will arise, such as: How will I start the business? Where will I start from? Which location will be ideal for the business? Those are the critical aspects the simulation will address.”
According to the Lead Product Manager and Co-Founder, Sim-Plement, Nigeria, graduates find it difficult to start a business because the theoretical skills acquired in class are not sufficient for starting a business.
“For instance, engineering and medical students have the opportunity to apply in the laboratory what they learn in class, but not so for students majoring in business and entrepreneurship, because most of the lecturers are accustomed to teaching just theories to students,” Oluseyi said.
He added: “And because this simulation is new to Nigeria, we offer free training to all tertiary institution lecturers on how to use the simulation for teaching their students, including the marking scheme, because business extends beyond listening to seminars.”
Additionally, he disclosed that Babcock University had since early 2026 implemented the simulation in its curriculum for teaching students practicals on running a business to achieve profitability and growth, adding that lecturers at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Osun State University, among several others, had also indicated interest in the virtual business learning tool.
“They see it as a new way of teaching their students to have the experience of starting a business from the beginning. Simulation is already being used in Europe and China for teaching students. And besides Babcock University, most universities in Nigeria are about adopting the virtual learning tool for teaching their students,” Oluseyi said.
Oluseyi said that the CEO and Founder of Sim-Plement Corporate Development, Dublin, Ireland, Klaus Walter, who is the Corporation Partner of Sim-Plement, Nigeria, supported the idea of extending the business simulation to Nigerian tertiary institutions so that students would benefit from the virtual business learning tool.
According to Oluseyi, both Sim-Plement, Nigeria, and Sim-Plement, Dublin, Ireland, had agreed to pay for the development of the simulation, taking the expense off the shoulders of the tertiary institutions, while the students would only pay a token for the licence.
In his virtual remarks, Klaus Walter said the business simulation is not just writing things down, reading a book, or asking an expert, but an interactive, impactful, authentic, and experiential modern learning approach.
He said: “Sim-Plement Business Training in Nigeria is now introducing this way of impactful learning to universities and other higher educational institutions in Nigeria. It is basically about how it would be to run a business. Business simulation will allow students to become entrepreneurs and run a company.
“They have to make decisions on infrastructure, location, and workstations; they have to hire people, of course, simulated employees, so to say. They must secure resources like raw materials, choose their marketing strategies, apply the marketing mix — the four Ps of product, place, promotion, and price — and start selling these simulated products.
“So, actually, the simulation that I am now mentioning is running under the model of learning entrepreneurship by doing entrepreneurship. There are a couple of learning objectives that the simulation covers, for example, to make better entrepreneurial decisions, to gain experience in holistic thinking, and to understand links between different parts of a company — how a company’s departments are connected.
“The other objective is to learn about strategic planning, define economic goals and strategies, and implement these strategies in a dynamic environment.”
