Supporting Entrepreneurs in Conflict & Post–Confict Zones

May 23, 2012

I just wrote a paper, with terrific assistance from Ashley Harden and Stephanie Oula, on the power and the promise of entrepreneurs in conflict and post conflict zones. Usually the world tends to aim small and narrow when it comes to pushing small business in countries struggling to shake free of war. But the entrepreneurs themselves keep moving forward. And what they need can be summarized in the three “accesses” – access to finance, access to networks and skills-building and access to markets.
A growing number of programs aim to support these entrepreneurs — men and women — but too often programs are in silos. All the incentives are against working together – or even coordinating. That is starting to change, as the paper notes, and there is a lot more work that could be done to help promote and push ahead the small businesses that create jobs and help countries out of poverty. See what you think.
Entrepreneurship in Postconflict Zones