Startup Acts: An Emerging Instrument to Foster the Development of Innovative High-Growth Firms

Download Report

Back to search results

Executive Summary:

Startup Acts are emerging and comprehensive legal instruments aimed at fostering the creation and development of startups, taking into account their particular needs. They are often designed through a participatory process involving the collaboration of different stakeholders in the entrepreneurship ecosystem. Although Startup Acts are still relatively new, if well designed, they can have a significant impact on improving private sector development and tackling high unemployment rates and economic gloom.

Key Findings:

Startup Acts provide startups with targeted incentives aimed at addressing the challenges they face.
In designing Startup Acts, policymakers should pay special attention to the importance of adopting a participatory process, an ecosystem approach as well as a clear and objective selection process to target beneficiaries.
Besides Tunisia and Senegal, which adopted a Startup Act respectively in 2018 and 2019, at least 16 more African countries are in the process of adopting one.
Startup Acts are often designed through a participatory process involving the collaboration of stakeholders from the entrepreneurship ecosystem from both public and private sectors

Webinar Recordings

Download the report!

You may also be interested in these ICReports

Supporting Diaspora Entrepreneurship To Boost ACP Country Development

This report focuses on how African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries can benefit from the resources of the diaspora to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. It is written as part of the series of reports on “Innovative approaches to support entrepreneurs”. The report finds that, in addition to innovative tools such as crowdfunding […]

Honour Loans: A Comprehensive Mechanism to Foster Development by Supporting MSMEs

The honour loans mechanism is a multidimensional one combining financing free of interest or requirement for securities or guarantees, with support to entrepreneurs. It has several benefits for entrepreneurs: Firstly, it finances their development, serving as seed funds and strengthening their project’s equity. It can therefore create financial leverage with microcredit or banking loans. Secondly, it can help […]

Supporting Investment in Inclusive Business and Social Enterprises

Supporting Investment In Inclusive Business And Social Enterprises: Best Practice For Policymakers And Investors In ACP Countries Executive Summary Mobilising private capital to deliver social and environmental benefits in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries is vital if the Sustainable Development Goals are to be met. ‘Impact investment’, an approach to investing whereby positive social and/or […]

Crowdfunding: an Opportunity to Increase Access to Finance for MSMEs in ACP Countries

Executive Summary Access to finance is amongst the main challenges faced by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in creating and growing their business in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. Meanwhile, crowdfunding is disrupting the financial services industry by democratising access to capital for individuals and businesses and revolutionising the way they interact with […]

You may also be interested in these ICR Stories

Building a better business ecosystem for entrepreneurs in Côte d’Ivoire

Côte d’Ivoire has been an African success story for much of the last decade. The World Bank estimates that its GDP growth rate was on average 8.2% in the seven years between 2012 and 2019, one of the most dynamic in the world. Much of its growth comes from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which account for […]

Closing the gender gap in Senegal’s economy

Women make up most of the agricultural workforce in Senegal and many have ambitions to start or grow their own farming businesses. But lack of finance and traditional cultural norms are holding them back. A new initiative between the Union Nationale des Commerçants et Industriels du Sénégal (UNACOIS), finance partners and with the support of the ICR Facility has proved that targeted and timely support can transform their fortunes – and those of their country.

Promoting Innovative SME Finance in Caribbean and Pacific Islands

Many DFIs in the Pacific and the Caribbean strategically support local businesses in their launch, develop and growth phases, both with financial and non-financial means, but maintaining a balance between financial sustainability and achieving goals is not always easy. Empowering people to engage and raise their voice is the first step to change.

What are the Challenges for the Development of Crowdfunding in ACP Countries?

Crowdfunding is an online, collective and community-based fundraising system. It enables entrepreneurs to raise funds from personal and professional networks, as well as geographical and affinity groups, based on the power of the internet and social media. It is a strategic investment vehicle complementary to existing tools, especially for companies which lack credibility with […]

You may also be interested in these event recordings

How can SME Resilience and Adaptivity be Strengthened through Business Continuity Management in light of Covid-19?

How can Employer Business Membership Organizations (EBMOs) in ACP countries adjust their service offer in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic? The online live event assesses how Business Continuity Training can help SMEs preparing for and recovering from crisis situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes activities for preserving the business operations but at […]

Opportunities and Challenges for Crowdfunding in ACP Countries

The growth of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sector is one of the priority issues for economic development in ACP countries. SMEs are among the motors of job creation and GDP growth. They make an important contribution to economic diversification, social stability, and territorial prosperity. However, SMEs are still struggling with the problem of […]

Startup Acts: An Emerging Instrument to Foster the Development of Innovative High-Growth Firms

ACP countries are faced with high unemployment, political instability, and other well-documented development challenges that demand new solutions to inclusive economic growth. Governments, as a result, have increasingly begun to focus on entrepreneurship, and particularly on Start-ups, as a mean of creating quality jobs, boosting the wider economy’s productivity and growth, and delivering market-based innovations […]

Loans on Honor: a Comprehensive Mechanism to Foster Development by Supporting MSMEs

In ACP countries, a large number of companies, and especially the smallest and the youngest, are struggling to find the financing they need to grow, despite a general awareness of their crucial role in job creation and economic development. In recent years, solutions have emerged by combining both support and financing. The Prêts d’honneurs/Loan on […]

Contact us