R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S F O R E S O S
• ESOs Sustainability: Aside from co-working space rental and business development services to entrepre- neurs/startups, ESOs can diversify their revenue sources if they are able to provide more advanced business and management consultancy services to corporate organizations. Bongo Hive has been able to diversify their revenue sources by providing consultancy services to corporate organizations, using top-level experts within their team. • Inter-ESOs Partnerships: Facilitate partnerships among ESOs across the continent to enable knowledge sharing, co-design and implementation of programs. To strengthen the quality and impact of support services ESOs provides to entrepreneurs, it is imperative for ESOs to collaborate and combine resources in co-desi- gning and implementing programs. This will attract better funding opportunities to ESOs, reduce repetitive effort within the ecosystem and improve quality of ESOs programs. Inter-ESO partnership will be effective where ESOs with more than three years of experience are matched with younger ESOs to collaborate, share ideas and close experience gaps that exist among younger ESOs. AfriLabs is already addressing this via its Capacity Building Awards that prioritizes collaborative projects. • ESO-Investors Community: Create a physical and digital community for active investors and ESOs to include investors’ insights and input in the design process of startup support. The ESO-Investors community should be designed according to regional needs, as there is a greater need for investor integration in East and Central Africa than other regions. Also, there is a need to provide dedicated funding opportunities to support female led businesses and incentivize female entrepreneurs within the created communities. ABAN and AfriLabs are already collaborating on such communities.
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N E E D S A S S E S S M E N T R E P O R T
Trends and insights from ESOs, entrepreneurs, and investors
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