The Definition of Insanity: Why Repeating the Same Approach to Enterprise Support is Failing Africa’s SMEs
Africa’s economic growth is driven by small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Yet these businesses face a myriad of challenges, the most pressing often being financing. Despite the fact that small businesses are the backbone of the East African economy, 72 percent of all startup funding went into only three companies in the region in the span of two recent years. And 84 percent of SMEs in Africa indicate access to capital as their main challenge, representing a financing gap of US $140-170 billion.