The booklet premiered at the Open Innovation Africa Summit in Kenya this past November and gives insight into what it means to be an entrepreneur in Africa. It was created with the support of infoDev, the World Bank Group, and the African Incubation Network (AIN). For this publication, infoDev team members spoke with entrepreneurs from its African Incubation Network (AIN) in Ghana, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Rwanda, and South Africa to gather information on how incubation centers have supported African SMEs and the ways in which these businesses continue to change the African economic landscape.

The entrepreneurs interviewed all emphasized the importance of working in sectors and focusing on projects that they find personally fulfilling. Mebtu Abebe and Adnew Abebe echoed this sentiment when discussing their experience starting their company, Luwa Microsystems Solutions in Hawassa, Ethiopia. “We started our own company to get freedom,” said the founders, “to work when we want to and be able to focus on the work we really desire to do.”