ANDE members provide critical financial, educational, and business support services to small and growing businesses (SGBs) based on the conviction that SGBs create jobs, stimulate long-term economic growth, and produce environmental and social benefits. Ultimately, we believe that SGBs can help lift countries out of poverty.
After two years of virtual conferences, the Annual Conference is back in person for 2022 outside Washington, DC. This year’s theme, Resilient Entrepreneurship, will bring the ANDE community together to discuss how to best ensure the strength and sustainability of the SGB sector.
Currently there are over 500 townships in the South Africa, whose combined land mass surpasses that of Johannesburg and Durban combined and which are home to an estimated 40% of South Africa’s urban population. While more is understood about the small and growing businesses (SGBs) in metropolitan areas, less is known about the entrepreneurial ecosystems in the townships and how to support the primarily micro, necessity-based businesses that operate there. This report focuses on identifying the key actors implementing programmes to support entrepreneurs and small businesses operating in townships in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, and Western Cape Provinces, the challenges the entrepreneurial support providers face, and the opportunities to strengthen this ecosystem.
Entrepreneurial ecosystems comprise the set of cultural, political, and economic elements that allow entrepreneurs to start, sustain, and scale a new business. While the concept of an entrepreneurial ecosystem is well-established, the evidence base on how exactly ecosystems grow and whether interventions can accelerate this growth is still emerging. This report synthesizes the existing evidence on the complex process of building entrepreneurial ecosystems and offers key lessons from the literature.
With the launch of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, "SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth" has become a rallying cry for practitioners aiming to boost entrepreneurship as a means of economic and social development. However, while the concept of decent work may seem straightforward, clearly defining a “quality job” has proven to be a complex endeavor. The report by ANDE first summarizes how job quality is defined and measured, then provides an overview of the current evidence on the quality of jobs within SMEs, and finally examines the effectiveness of interventions to improve job quality.
The two winning projects will focus on finding solutions to the lack of capital for climate entrepreneurs in India.
Project Kirana is currently training 3,000 women shop owners and managers in the cities of Lucknow and Kanpur, working to optimize business operations and leverage digital and financial tools to improve decision-making, personal agency, and revenue.
The funding will allow four investors to advance their gender lens investment capabilities.
Given the importance of SGBs to economic growth and job creation, supporting these businesses must be a critical part of the global recovery. To support our members and the overall SGB sector during the ongoing crisis, ANDE is working to understand and meet our members’ evolving needs, providing relevant resources and a platform for sharing adaptation strategies.