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Project

The distributional impacts of innovation support programs for small and medium enterprises in Benin and Senegal
 

Benin
Senegal
Project ID
110053
Total Funding
CAD 508,100.00
IDRC Officer
Matthew Wallace
Project Status
Active
Duration
36 months

Programs and partnerships

Lead institution(s)

Summary

Like many countries in Africa, Benin and Senegal have introduced innovation support programs that provide training, incubation and financial incentives to create new enterprises and help existing ones grow.Read more

Like many countries in Africa, Benin and Senegal have introduced innovation support programs that provide training, incubation and financial incentives to create new enterprises and help existing ones grow. However, the evidence on whether such programs work, for whom and why is generally lacking. This project addresses this gap through an in-depth investigation of two innovation support programs, the UAC Startup Valley Incubator in Benin and the Small and Medium Enterprise Business Training and Coaching Loop in Senegal.

The research team at the Centre d’Actions pour l’Environnement et le Développement durable (ACED) and the Initiative Prospective agricole et rurale (IPAR) will carry out two impact assessments in concert with the innovation agencies implementing them. As both programs seek to promote economic empowerment, the research will assess the contribution of these two innovation support programs to equity, diversity and inclusion. This is of particular interest as these programs seek to benefit women, rural-based enterprises, entrepreneurs from families of low socio-economic status and people with limited digital skills. The extent of their participation and how they benefit will be examined with a view to improving the design of these and other similar programs.

The team will develop an evidence-based roadmap to inform the improvement of these interventions through an inclusive innovation lens. Through this process, the team seeks to improve understanding among public and private decision-makers on how these innovation support policies stimulate the expansion and growth of SMEs, and how their design and implementation might advance equity, diversity and inclusion goals.

This project received Stage 1 funding through the 2020 Evidence for Innovation open competition and a Stage 2 grant in 2022.