Welcome to ‘The Startup State’ - a weekly bulletin from the GEN Policy and Research team highlighting key entrepreneurship news, reports, commentary and features from around the world.
GEN community news
- GEN and Startup Genome launched the Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2024 at London Tech Week last week. GSER is a comprehensive analysis of the current state of startup ecosystems worldwide.
- United Nations Trade & Development has launched the 2024 World Investment Report. In doing so, the GER team has re-assessed over 280 online single windows and information portals. View the GER assessments
- The Allan Gray Centre for Africa Entrepreneurship at Stellenbosch University formally launched last week. Visit its new website to learn more
News
- Sierra Leone is seeking to raise up to $150m to roll out a far-reaching digital innovation hub strategy aimed at positioning the West African country as an incubation hub for innovations from across the sub-region (Semafor)
- Estonia is to introduce a new act on research, development and innovation, overhauling legislation dating back to 1997 that the government says is no longer efficient or effective enough (Science Business)
Research
- Fintech in Latin America and the Caribbean: A consolidated ecosystem with potential to contribute to regional financial inclusion
This Spanish-language IDB report reveals the significant expansion of the fintech ecosystem in Latin America and the Caribbean in recent years, reaching a record 3,069 companies in 26 countries; a 340% growth since 2017. Reuters’ English summary - A microscope on small businesses: Spotting opportunities to boost productivity
This McKinsey Global Institute report analyzes MSMEs in 16 economies and sets out recommendations on how to tackle the MSME productivity problem. Summary - Virtual windows through glass walls? Digitalization for low-mobility female entrepreneurs
This World Bank report investigates the promise of digitalization in unlocking the growth of home-based businesses for women who face constrained mobility due to social norms and/or childcare responsibilities.
Comment and analysis
- Unveiling what businesses experience in 50 economies: Results from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys (Nona Karalashvili and Jorge Luis Rodriquez Meza, World Bank)
- How regional technology hubs can advance inclusive innovation (Mayu Takeuchi and Joseph Parilla, Brookings Metro)
- Is Europe’s funding gap a myth? (Anne Sraders, Amy Lewin and Miriam Partington, Sifted)
- Transferring women’s wealth to women-led funds to build a more equitable economy (Najada Kumbuli, vice president and head of investments, Visa Foundation and Stephanie Heller, co-founder and managing director, Bootstrap Europe)
- California AI bill becomes a lightning rod - for safety advocates and developers alike (Owen J Daniels, Andrew W Marshall Fellow, Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology)
- How Namibia is helping its most sustainable companies compete globally (Rauha Nngula Uaandja, chairperson and CEO, Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board)
Features
- Nikkei Asia: Japan goes light on AI regulation to court investment
- Impact Hub: World Refugee Day: Navigating the challenges of refugee employment and entrepreneurship
- CNBC: From Swahili to Zulu, African techies develop AI language tools
- African Business: Idris Elba hones smart city and movie production plans
GEN Atlas insights
The GEN Atlas is the world’s largest entrepreneurship policy compendium, featuring over 370 case studies from 70 countries. Using these case studies, we publish Country Deep Dives examining the policies underpinning countries’ entrepreneurial success, Policy Deep Dives comparing different countries’ approaches to common policy challenges, and Atlas Spotlights highlighting the best examples of policies under a broad theme. Recent highlights:
- Atlas spotlights: Finance
- Policy deep dives: Startup visas | Youth entrepreneurship | Supporting ethnic minority entrepreneurs
- Country deep dives: South Africa | France | The Netherlands
To suggest content for inclusion in future editions of 'The Startup State', please email matt@genglobal.org.
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