E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y
THE HIGHLIGHT REEL A qu i ck snapshot of i ns i ght s f rom i nves tor s , ESOs and ent repreneur s sur veys and focus groups
• Women are under-represented among the population of ESOs, entre- preneurs, and investors. Women constitute only 29% of entrepreneurs, 30% of ESO founders, and 25% of investors. These statistics throw into light the gap between women and men in the African innovation ecosystem. • There are regional differences in women’s engagement in entrepre- neurship. • ESOs have a clear idea of programs they would like to provide to entrepreneurs in their community. Among many, the most prominent are international connections, funding, training, startup boot camps, mentoring, and pre-acceleration. • According to investors, ESOs must strengthen their support to entre- preneurs to ensure they become investment-ready. This consists of making a business commercially viable, having financial and operations numbers that are realistic and achievable, having a plan on how to scale the business, knowing the right target market, having a proof of concept, building a great team and having a good advisory board. • The biggest disconnect between investors and entrepreneurs include weakness in investment readiness, different valuation expectations and lack of awareness and synergy. ESOs can build a bridge between the
two parties by providing an investor expectation guideline and capacity building support. • The interaction between investors and ESOs revolves around men- torship, training, advisory delivery and deal sourcing. For the most part, there is very little interaction. • According to investors, ESOs should provide support and men- torship, as well as listen to entrepreneur’s feedback in order to better serve them. There was a common trend running through the data analyzed, the secondary research and focus groups: the importance of skills develop- ment, the mentorship and coaching needs and the role that finance plays in the growth and prospects of ESOs and entrepreneurs. Against the backdrop of the general trends and realities outlined above, we chose to focus on three key themes as they revolve around the trends highlighted above.
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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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