"This issue brief is a part of the series formulated by Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs’ (ANDE) India chapter. It aims to contextualize the findings and strategy outlined in ANDE’s global gender issue brief, for India, and to create a knowledge base connecting our urgent issues and the Small and Growing Business (SGB) sector at a regional level. This brief is a starting point for conversations on gender equality and is meant to help shape ANDE India’s strategy for the region."

"Small and medium-sized enterprises make up a large part of Sri Lanka's economy, with over one million SMEs accounting for approximately 75 percent of all businesses. These are found in all sectors of the economy and are estimated to contribute about 45 percent of total employment in Sri Lanka. Women's ownership of formal small and medium-sized enterprises is low, at around 25 percent of all SMEs, and most women business-owners struggle to transition away from informal micro-scale businesses, in part due to limited access to finance and lower business capacity of women entrepreneurs. This report presents a snapshot of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) across Sri Lanka, with a focus on the different impacts experienced by women-owned and managed businesses (WSME), as compared to those owned by men (MSME) and those owned jointly by a woman and a man (JSME)."

"This report analyzes how twenty different donors and development finance institutions (DFIs) engage with the entrepreneurship and small & growing business (SGB) sector in emerging markets. The goal of this study is to provide an overview of the main channels through which these institutions provide funding to entrepreneurs and small and growing businesses in emerging markets, reveal key statistics around this funding (such as investment size and horizon), highlight trends to look out for over the course of the next few years, and discuss implications for how ANDE should engage with each institution moving forward."

"This toolkit provides methodological guidance on assessing the current state of entrepreneurial ecosystems and offers a set of resources and tools that can be used by development practitioners. This toolkit does not aim to be exhaustive, but is intended to serve as a basis for other organizations to build upon. To develop this toolkit, ANDE conducted a comprehensive review of publicly available literature on entrepreneurial ecosystems and identified nine evaluative frameworks. We assessed these frameworks and synthesized key elements and indicators. ANDE encourages practitioners to use this toolkit as a resource guide that can be adapted and modified to fit the local and/sectoral context."

"ANDE SA, in partnership with Innovate Durban, recently completed and published an in-depth snapshot of 124 programmes providing financial and non-financial support to the small and growing business ecosystem in Durban, South Africa and compiled their findings in this report. The insights in this snapshot are derived from primary data collection from entrepreneur support providers in Durban, as well as stakeholder feedback and external research cited throughout the snapshot."

"As part of a series of ecosystem maps, with the support of the Citi Foundation, our West Africa Regional Chapter released a snapshot providing insight into the Abuja entrepreneurial ecosystems. This snapshot was produced through a review of existing literature, a series of surveys and interviews, as well as stakeholder meetings."

"As part of a series of ecosystem maps, with the support of the Citi Foundation, our West Africa Regional Chapter recently released a snapshot providing insight into the Lagos entrepreneurial ecosystem. This snapshot was produced through a review of existing literature, a series of surveys and interviews, as well as stakeholder meetings."

"In 2018, the ANDE South Africa team completed an in-depth snapshot of programs supporting entrepreneurs in Gauteng. This snapshot builds on previous efforts to identify support for entrepreneurs in South Africa."

"As part of a series of ecosystem maps, with the support of the Citi Foundation, our West Africa Regional Chapter recently released a snapshot providing insight into the Lagos entrepreneurial ecosystem. This snapshot was produced through a review of existing literature, a series of surveys and interviews, as well as stakeholder meetings."

"ANDE's Ecosystem Snapshots are designed to collect basic information about the support available for small and growing businesses in a specific city or country. This information acts as a census of the local actors and represents a specific moment in time. While the results are ultimately static, ANDE's Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Snapshot methodology is iterative and practitioner-focused. Research is primarily conducted by local teams who engage practitioners throughout the process."