Work

Business incubators in Africa: a review of the literature

Year: 2023

Type: article

Abstract: This paper reviews research on business incubators in Africa, as a policy tool for supporting entrepreneurial businesses.Combining bibliometric and narrative approaches, it identifies five themes in the literature: incubator types and support; incubator performance and innovation; incubator impact on businesses and economy; incubator role in start-ups; and incubator as enabler of learning.It also highlights gaps for future research, including the lack of studies on climate change and industrialization; the limited evidence on how to improve incubator support; the absence of studies on adaptive, responsive and inclusive incubators; and the scarcity of rigorous impact evaluations.The paper concludes that incubators are useful for enterprise development in Africa but need collective research and policy efforts to strengthen their contribution.

Source: Innovation and Development

DOI: 10.1080/2157930x.2023.2295090

Author: Abiodun Egbetokun

Institutions: National Center for Technology Management, De Montfort University

Language: English

Topic: Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences

Subfield: Management of Technology and Innovation

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: Centre for Economic Policy Research, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Energy Policy Research Centre, Economic and Social Research Institute