Publication: Enhancing Access to Finance for Technology Entrepreneurs in Southern Africa
Loading...
Published
2014-04
ISSN
Date
2015-01-05
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
This report examines the financing gaps for early stage and growth that high-growth technology entrepreneurs are facing in the information and communication technology (ICT), climate technology, and innovative agribusiness sectors in Zambia and Mozambique, with a more regional review of Namibia and Botswana as possible. It analyzes the unmet needs of these entrepreneurs - perceived demand and latent demand - as well as the existing sources of supply of private capital for seed and early-stage investment, and defines the adequacy to meet these needs. The report also explores the challenges that angel investors have experienced in the past when attempting to finance early- and growth-stage start-ups in the region and, if and where appropriate, make recommendations relating to infoDev's possible interventions.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2014. Enhancing Access to Finance for Technology Entrepreneurs in Southern Africa. © http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21073 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Turkey - National Innovation and Technology System : Recent Progress and Ongoing Challenges(Washington, DC, 2009-06)In January 2008, the Turkish Government requested the World Bank to jointly undertake an assessment of its National Innovation System (NIS) in order to help guide its ongoing efforts to deepen the role of innovation in the Turkish economy. This report identifies the recent progress and key ongoing challenges facing Turkey's NIS and draws on international experience to outline potential issues for further analysis. The next section provides an overview of the institutional structure, policy framework and main programs of Turkey's NIS and identifies issues in three main areas that hinder innovation performance: the intellectual property right (IPR) regime, collaboration between the research and enterprise sectors, and innovation finance. The third section uses available information (aggregate and firm-level data and a set of 20 case studies) to provide a review of the innovation and technology performance of the enterprise sector in Turkey and preliminarily address its possible determinants. Areas for further potential study and analysis are identified based on the key findings in each section.Publication Creating Your Own Angel Investor Group : A Guide for Emerging and Frontier Markets(Washington, DC, 2014)In little more than a decade, formal angel investing organizations have shifted from being mostly a United States (U.S.) and European phenomenon to being active and visible around the world. From Colombia to Cambodia, Serbia to South Africa, angel investors build networks from scratch and put their own local spin on how these networks are founded, structured, and operated. However, for every successful angel group founder there are many more potential founders looking for a place to start. This guidebook aims to support such individuals and newly formed angel groups by presenting global best practices and tools and templates for facilitating group operations.Publication Crowdfunding's Potential for the Developing World(Washington, DC, 2013)Crowdfunding is an Internet-enabled way for businesses or other organizations to raise money in the form of either donations or investments from multiple individuals. This new form of capital formation emerged in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis largely because of the difficulties faced by artisans, entrepreneurs and early-stage enterprises in raising funds. Crowdfunding takes advantage of crowd-based decision-making and innovation, and applies it to the funding of projects or businesses. Using social networks, social profiles, and web-based communication, individuals and companies have raised billions of dollars in debt, equity, and donations for projects. Building a crowdfunding ecosystem depends on key enablers to build trust. This document explores specific strategies to drive crowdfunding, the risks in crowdfunding and how to mitigate them, and the potential use of crowdfunding in the developing world.Publication Bulgaria - Investment Climate Assessment : Volume 1. Overview(Washington, DC, 2008-10)Sustained improvements in living standards depend on broad-based economic growth. This will only take place when firms improve worker productivity by investing in human and physical capital and increasing their technological capacity. But firms will only invest when the investment climate is favorable. The goal of the Bulgaria Investment Climate Assessment (ICA) is to evaluate the investment climate in all its operational dimensions and to promote policies to strengthen the private sector. The ICA is largely based on results from the World Bank Enterprise Survey. The 1,000-firm survey was conducted in late 2007 and collects detailed information on firm performance, what managers see as the main obstacles that they face, and objective data on various aspects of the investment climate. Additional sources of information are used to supplement the survey data, including the World Bank's Doing Business Report, a study that provides detailed, comparable data on regulation across the world, data from the National Statistical Institute, and reports from the Government of Bulgaria, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the European Union, academics, and other sources.Publication Growing Women-led Enterprises in the Mekong : Testing a Methodology for Accelerating Growth(Washington, DC, 2014)According to a recent global entrepreneurship monitor, 48 percent of entrepreneurs globally are women. Growth-oriented women entrepreneurs face challenges such as lack of access to support services and relevant knowledge as well as regulatory and legal barriers. Recognizing the barriers that often prevent women from growing their businesses, infoDev embarked on a small pilot project designed to test a new methodology for increasing the capacity, confidence, and networks of growth-oriented women leading small businesses. The objective was to test whether this methodology will indeed lead to business expansion. infoDevapos;s pilot - the Mekong womenapos;s entrepreneurship challenge (MWEC) - set out to test a methodology based primarily on structured facilitation of peer-to-peer learning among growth-oriented women entrepreneurs. This report discusses the design, outcomes, and lessons of MWEC in further detail and provides a few preliminary recommendations for the design of future programs targeting the growth of women-owned enterprises.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication Lebanon Economic Monitor, Fall 2022(Washington, DC, 2022-11)The economy continues to contract, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. Public finances improved in 2021, but only because spending collapsed faster than revenue generation. Testament to the continued atrophy of Lebanon’s economy, the Lebanese Pound continues to depreciate sharply. The sharp deterioration in the currency continues to drive surging inflation, in triple digits since July 2020, impacting the poor and vulnerable the most. An unprecedented institutional vacuum will likely further delay any agreement on crisis resolution and much needed reforms; this includes prior actions as part of the April 2022 International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff-level agreement (SLA). Divergent views among key stakeholders on how to distribute the financial losses remains the main bottleneck for reaching an agreement on a comprehensive reform agenda. Lebanon needs to urgently adopt a domestic, equitable, and comprehensive solution that is predicated on: (i) addressing upfront the balance sheet impairments, (ii) restoring liquidity, and (iii) adhering to sound global practices of bail-in solutions based on a hierarchy of creditors (starting with banks’ shareholders) that protects small depositors.Publication Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.Publication World Development Report 2006(Washington, DC, 2005)This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.Publication The Journey Ahead(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-31)The Journey Ahead: Supporting Successful Migration in Europe and Central Asia provides an in-depth analysis of international migration in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and the implications for policy making. By identifying challenges and opportunities associated with migration in the region, it aims to inform a more nuanced, evidencebased debate on the costs and benefits of cross-border mobility. Using data-driven insights and new analysis, the report shows that migration has been an engine of prosperity and has helped address some of ECA’s demographic and socioeconomic disparities. Yet, migration’s full economic potential remains untapped. The report identifies multiple barriers keeping migration from achieving its full potential. Crucially, it argues that policies in both origin and destination countries can help maximize the development impacts of migration and effectively manage the economic, social, and political costs. Drawing from a wide range of literature, country experiences, and novel analysis, The Journey Ahead presents actionable policy options to enhance the benefits of migration for destination and origin countries and migrants themselves. Some measures can be taken unilaterally by countries, whereas others require close bilateral or regional coordination. The recommendations are tailored to different types of migration— forced displacement as well as high-skilled and low-skilled economic migration—and from the perspectives of both sending and receiving countries. This report serves as a comprehensive resource for governments, development partners, and other stakeholders throughout Europe and Central Asia, where the richness and diversity of migration experiences provide valuable insights for policy makers in other regions of the world.