This article appeared in Ventureburn on 19 April 2013. Below is an excerpt; read the full article here.
We have the pleasure of presenting the Accelerating Entrepreneurship in Africa report compiled by Omidyar Network, the philanthropic foundation established by Pierre Omidyar — the founder of eBay — in partnership with global strategy consulting film, Monitor Group. This epic 48-page report is the result of a three-phase research project launched in 2012 aimed to better understand the state of entrepreneurship in Africa.
The project started with a survey of 582 entrepreneurs across six Sub-Saharan African countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania which was then augmented into 72 in-depth interviews. It promises to be one of the most comprehensive studies done on African entrepreneurship to date.
Benchmarked against 19 global peers like China, India, the USA and the UK, the issues addressed were divided into four critical aspects of entrepreneurship:
- Entrepreneurial assets: financing, skills and talent, and infrastructure
- Business support: government programmes and incubation
- Policy accelerators: legislation and administrative burdens
- Motivations and mindset: legitimacy, attitudes, and culture
The second phase invited business, government and thought leaders to the 2012 Entrepreneurship in Africa Summit, held in Accra Ghana, to analyse the survey findings, and offer proposed solutions.
The report presents the findings of the survey, as well as the outcomes and solutions given at the Accra meeting. It starts by listing financing, skills and talent, and infrastructure as Africa’s greatest challenges.