Rapid Incubation Model for the development of Micro and Small enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa

Dr. Pralay Dey

Volume 12 Issue 10

Global Journal of Management and Business

Africa was called “The Dark Continent” by Europeans because little was known about it prior to European colonization. Sub-Saharan Africa region covering 48 countries refers to the area of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara desert. Sub-Saharan Africa though having an agricultural base has all kinds of resources in the world in terms of vast availability of minerals, gold and diamond, crude oil and Uranium etc. like no other continent. Despite having so much resources, Sub-Saharan Africa continues to face longterm development challenges: poverty, dependence on a few primary commodities like agriculture and mining, low human capital, weak governance and non-existence of appropriate policies, low employment, low technology or processing capacity, low Investment, high cost of Finance, low empowerment of women, and climate change, non availability of cheap finance, etc. Rapid Industrialization of Sub-Saharan Africa through establishment of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) would be a signification step, addressing major challenges like distribution. Establishing Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) is not a cake-walk despite having innovative inventions and ideas. It takes more than just having an idea of establishing a startup. Planning and arrangement of scarce resources like Finance, Infrastructure, Technology, Sourcing of raw materials, Marketplaces(buyers) and organizing Sales distribution channels are the major challenges for establishment and survival of any enterprise. Majority of startups fail in their first year of inception. Many of these failures can be prevented if entrepreneurs get handholding support by an Institution having specialized Incubation programmers. An incubator’s main goal is to produce successful Micro and Small Enterprises with an array of targeted resources and services. These incubates have the potential to create jobs, develop technology for import substitution, commercialize new technologies, and strengthen local an