When business accelerators gathered to proffer solutions to start-up collapse

To increase the survival rate of start-ups in the country, Global Accelerators Learning Initiative (GALI) has gathered operators of incubator and accelerator programmes in Nigeria and Ghana to proffer lasting solutions to the high rate of business collapse after five years of establishment.

Despite the increase in the numbers of incubator and accelerator centres to aid businesses at different levels, there has been limited study on the effectiveness of these incubators and accelerators.

Although GALI research has shown a reasonable level of success in this sector, incubators and accelerators still face certain challenges that must be tackled to improve their effectiveness in the entrepreneurship ecosystem.

In view of this, Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) West Africa has organised several incubator and accelerator stakeholder meetings to bring them together to discuss the peculiar challenges they face and make recommendations on how to improve their effectiveness.

Following the previous meetings held last year in Lagos, Nigeria, subsequent editions were organised in Abuja, Nigeria and Accra, Ghana respectively.

The programs had in attendance key stakeholders in the sector such as Wennovation Hub, Enspire Incubator, Ventures Platform, Startprepresneurs, Enterprise Development Centre (EDC), MBC Africa, Inno Hub, iSpace Hub, Impact Hub, MDF, Tentmakers, Growth Mosaic and many others. The meeting also had other relevant stakeholders in attendance, including investors and government agencies.

Some of the challenges identified during the meetings included: Lack of commitment of entrepreneurs, and lack of collaboration among the key actors among others. Participants stressed specific recommendations, one of which is to have a pre-incubation program which helps the entrepreneurs to be aware and prepared ahead of the incubation program.

Finally, incubators and accelerators are advised to build capacity and technical competency to sufficiently support enterprises in their program.

Josephine Okojie