Does Africa need entrepreneurial ecosystems thinking?

Abstract

Abstract Does Africa need Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (EE) thinking? This paper argues that EE thinking is not a priority for Africa. The data is clear that Africa already has too many entrepreneurs. Further boosting the number of entrepreneurs in Africa seems like a step in the wrong direction. Instead, Africa should support the “right” kind of entrepreneurs, while reducing the total number of entrepreneurs. Two theories suggest that EE theory is the opposite of what African development needs: first, lessons from the technological catch-up that worked well for the development of South East Asia; and second, Schumpeterian growth theory which makes policy recommendations conditional on a country’s distance-to-frontier.

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