Foreword Social enterprises (SEs) play a special role in helping developing countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They fill a critical gap in social service delivery to the poorest at the Base of the economic Pyramid (BoP). Governmental or private service providers usually serve upper- and middle-income people, who have political clout and financial resources. But traditional publicly and privately provided services often do not reach the poor, whether in rural or urban areas. In contrast, SEs—enterprises with a social purpose but operating on commercial principles—aim to serve the poor, often with innovative technical, organizational, and financial approaches. However, while effective in reaching the poor, SEs face significant obstacles in growing their activities to a scale where they can substantially contribute to the achievement of the SDGs. Therefore, a key question of development research and policy is how best to identify and remove these obstacles. The present study addresses this question for seven African countries by exploring the enabling environment, or in which SEs operate, i.e., the system of actors, “ecosystem,” institutions, and networks that support or hinder SEs in contributing to development goals. The study is the first of its kind for Africa and thus begins to fill an important gap in our knowledge of SEs on the continent. The study develops an analytical framework that captures for each country four ecosystem dimensions: (a) policy and regulation, (b) financing solutions, (c) infrastructure and human capital, and (d) information and networks. It applies the framework at three levels (country, sector, and and rates the maturity (i.e., supportiveness) of each country’s SE ecosystem relative to a benchmark (the SE ecosystem of the United Kindom). The study’s empirical results are based on interviews with a broad sample of SEs, stakeholders, and BoP service users, and on a database with
Foreword Social enterprises (SEs) play a special role in helping developing countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They fill a critical gap in social service delivery to the poorest at the Base of the economic Pyramid (BoP). Governmental or private service providers usually serve upper- and middle-income people, who have political clout and financial resources. But traditional publicly and privately provided services often do not reach the poor, whether in rural or urban areas. In contrast, SEs—enterprises with a social purpose but operating on commercial principles—aim to serve the poor, often with innovative technical, organizational, and financial approaches. However, while effective in reaching the poor, SEs face significant obstacles in growing their activities to a scale where they can substantially contribute to the achievement of the SDGs. Therefore, a key question of development research and policy is how best to identify and remove these obstacles. The present study addresses this question for seven African countries by exploring the enabling environment, or “ecosystem,” in which SEs operate, i.e., the system of actors, institutions, and networks that support or hinder SEs in contributing to development goals. The study is the first of its kind for Africa and thus begins to fill an important gap in our knowledge of SEs on the continent. The study develops an analytical framework that captures for each country four ecosystem dimensions: (a) policy and regulation, (b) financing solutions, (c) infrastructure and human capital, and (d) information and networks. It applies the framework at three levels (country, sector, and and rates the maturity (i.e., supportiveness) of each country’s SE ecosystem relative to a benchmark (the SE ecosystem of the United Kindom). The study’s empirical results are based on interviews with a broad sample of SEs, stakeholders, and BoP service users, and on a database with