The African Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Index
Equipping policymakers with the knowledge to support African entrepreneurial ecosystem development
The African Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Index
Information on the state of entrepreneurial ecosystems in African countries is scarce. Little data is readily available and ecosystem research predominantly focuses on the Global North.
The African Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Index (AEEI) aims to fill this void. It sheds light on the reform readiness of countries on the continent and offers guidance to policymakers and ecosystem actors on how to improve their entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Treat With Caution
Please note this is the first public version of this index. Treat the results with caution as we have had a lot of deliberation and discussion on data quality, data availability and data sources. See this version as a conversation starter and a minimum viable product to improve and build on. A methodological note detailing the underlying data and the construction of the index can be found here: AEEI_data_methodology_april_2024
Preliminary results
29 African countries are included in this first edition of the index, with Mauritius, South Africa and Tunisia leading the way. For other countries, there was no full data availability. We aim to add more countries in upcoming years as we strive for improvements in data sources and expect more and better data to become available.
If we take a look at the countries that are included, Mauritius is the best or almost the best in six of the seven challenge areas. The only weak spot is its small domestic market. South Africa is the best of the rest: it has the most advanced financial structure in Africa but does not do well in multiple challenge areas, and is particularly weak in culture, with low levels of trust in others. Tunisia is particularly strong in governance and human capital, and weak in market access.
The Full Ranking
|
Country
|
Score
|
|
|---|---|---|
|
|
Mauritius
|
4.73
|
|
|
South Africa
|
3.91
|
|
|
Tunisia
|
3.55
|
|
|
Morocco
|
3.43
|
|
|
Cape Verde
|
3.23
|
|
|
Algeria
|
3.06
|
|
|
Namibia
|
3.05
|
|
|
Egypt
|
2.84
|
|
|
Senegal
|
2.84
|
|
|
Botswana
|
2.80
|
|
|
Ghana
|
2.57
|
|
|
Rwanda
|
2.48
|
|
|
Nigeria
|
2.37
|
|
|
Côte d'Ivoire
|
2.28
|
|
#
|
Country
|
Score
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
15
|
|
Kenya
|
2.24
|
|
16
|
|
Togo
|
2.24
|
|
17
|
|
Cameroon
|
2.20
|
|
18
|
|
Mali
|
2.04
|
|
19
|
|
Niger
|
2.01
|
|
20
|
|
Gambia
|
2.00
|
|
21
|
|
Guinea
|
1.83
|
|
22
|
|
Benin
|
1.82
|
|
23
|
|
Ethiopia
|
1.77
|
|
24
|
|
Tanzania
|
1.76
|
|
25
|
|
Angola
|
1.72
|
|
26
|
|
Lesotho
|
1.69
|
|
27
|
|
Burkina Faso
|
1.53
|
|
28
|
|
Uganda
|
1.52
|
|
29
|
|
Zimbabwe
|
1.38
|
The Full Ranking
|
Country
|
Score
|
|
|---|---|---|
|
|
Mauritius
|
4.59
|
|
|
South Africa
|
3.68
|
|
|
Tunisia
|
3.44
|
|
|
Morocco
|
3.43
|
|
|
Algeria
|
3.02
|
|
|
Namibia
|
2.97
|
|
|
Egypt
|
2.78
|
|
|
Senegal
|
2.76
|
|
|
Botswana
|
2.75
|
|
|
Ghana
|
2.53
|
|
|
Rwanda
|
2.45
|
|
|
Nigeria
|
2.33
|
|
|
Côte d'Ivoire
|
2.26
|
|
#
|
Country
|
Score
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
14
|
|
Togo
|
2.20
|
|
15
|
|
Cameroon
|
2.18
|
|
16
|
|
Kenya
|
2.15
|
|
17
|
|
Mali
|
2.01
|
|
18
|
|
Benin
|
1.8
|
|
19
|
|
Ethiopia
|
1.75
|
|
20
|
|
Tanzania
|
1.74
|
|
21
|
|
Angola
|
1.71
|
|
22
|
|
Lesotho
|
1.67
|
|
23
|
|
Burkina Faso
|
1.53
|
|
24
|
|
Uganda
|
1.48
|
|
25
|
|
Zimbabwe
|
1.37
|
Explore all countries
The AEEI is constructed based on scientifically rigorous and societally relevant entrepreneurial ecosystem analytics. It consists of seven key challenge areas that provide context to the entrepreneurial landscape in Africa. These include finance, market access, governance, support, culture, infrastructure and human capital.
Each country’s score per challenge area can be seen by hovering over it on the map below. The color coding is based on a relative ranking. This means that the top-third of countries are given green, the mid-third orange and the bottom-third is colored red.
Even when there is no complete data available, the data that is available can be seen per country by hovering over the respective countries colored in gray .
An excel sheet containing the full ranking and data for each country can be downloaded here: AEEI_dataset_april2024
Key :
|
Relative Ranking
|
|---|
|
Lowest
|
|
Middle
|
|
Highest
|
Partners
