A Model for Sustainable and Replicable ICT Incubators in Sub-Saharan Africa

Developing countries are increasingly embracing innovation and entrepreneurship as a key component of their social and economic development. To this end, business incubators and other types of business development service organizations are playing an important role in providing infrastructure, business advice and mentoring, networking, financing, and security to millions of business entrepreneurs in developing countries that otherwise wouldn’t have the resources to grow and scale up.

To explore this area further, infoDev commissioned a study, with support from IFC, that had two primary aims:

1. Draw lessons from sustainable ICT business incubators to develop a model that could be implemented at scale in developing countries, particularly in the Africa region; and
2. Propose an investment framework for evaluating prospective and existing ICT business incubators, as well as innovative mechanisms for addressing the financing needs of the incubated SMEs.
   The report produced from the study includes:

The findings from the study are provided in the report and include the following:

1. Results from detailed case studies of sustainable ICT business incubators in Chile, Colombia, Armenia, Jordan, and South Africa;
2. A good practice ICT incubator model based on the lessons drawn from these case studies, including how this model could be adapted and implemented in the Africa region;
3. Recommendations on how to evaluate a business incubator as a potential investment opportunity; and
4. Recommendations on how to leverage business incubators to address early-stage financing needs of SMEs

Download the Report

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