Study Overview
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are critical to job creation and global economic development. SMEs form the backbone of the African economy, representing more than 90% of businesses and employing between 60% and 70% of workers, many of whom are women and youth. The World Economic Forum estimates that Africa’s workforce will increase by a staggering 910 million people by 2050, of which 830 million will be in Sub-Saharan Africa, creating enormous pressure for jobs on SMEs, which typically account for approximately 80% of new jobs. The UC Berkeley research team developed Skills for Effective Entrepreneurship Development (SEED), a 3-week mini-MBA modeled after western business curricula adapted to the Ugandan context. In collaboration with Educate!, we are poised to launch a large field experiment featuring 10,000 Ugandan youth to foster a new and dynamic generation of entrepreneurs. Among others, the study will assess the value added of teaching digital business skills to encourage tech adoption for business management (inventory, payroll, digital payments) and leverage online market opportunities (e/s-commerce, branding, online presence etc.)
Study Results
Pending
Intervention Partner: Educate!
IBSI Funding Acknowledgement: Lab for Inclusive FinTech (LIFT)