Catalyzing impact through business

The Ecosystem Development Approach enables stakeholders to identify a shared opportunity and collaborate to make it a reality.

Business ecosystems are communities or networks of interconnected, interdependent players whose actions help determine what companies must do to be profitable and competitive.

As well as companies, they include government and public sector players, civil society organisations, universities and educational institutions, financial institutions, business associations, entrepreneurs and individuals. Companies can only do what makes commercial sense, and this is determined by the conditions this network of actors creates. 

The approach was tested in three countries - Senegal, Lesotho and Uganda - and the report describes their success:

• Increasing the competitiveness of Uganda’s tourism sector for, and with, local communities
• Building the ecosystem for solar energy enterprises in Senegal
• Scaling financial inclusion in Lesotho through mobile money