Africa is often described as the most entrepreneurial continent in the world. And yet, few ventures contribute to productive entrepreneurship. There are several reasons underpinning this, but a major driver is that there hasn’t yet existed a framework that can measure the conditions for productive entrepreneurship on the continent – until now, that is.
A new paper co-authored by Utrecht University, Allan Gray Centre for Africa Entrepreneurship, and the Innovation for Policy Foundation aims to change this. Titled Measuring National Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in Africa, the paper introduces the Africa Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Index (AEEI) – the first index of its kind tailored specifically toward African contexts.
The AEEI assesses Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem rigorously, across the seven key dimensions – governance, culture, infrastructure, finance, support, human capital and market access – and in so doing offers scholars and policymakers alike valuable insights into the factors shaping entrepreneurship on the continent. It also outperforms GDP per capita in predicting real-world entrepreneurial outcomes and provides a foundation for creating a more enabling environmental for future entrepreneurial success in Africa.
Congratulations to co-authors Erik Stam, Phumlani Nkontwana, Robert McDonald, Rafiki Murenzi, Kwabena A. Addo, Blaise Bayuo, Belinda Baah, Stefan Riezebos and Tim Gelissen on the publication.
Download the full paper: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5254687
