Economic Diversification Support Project

Promoting Enterprise Development

Contract no. EDSP-AfDB-0007

Business Incubation Strategy

Final Version

May 2019
This document is prepared solely for
the use and benefit of
African Development Bank and
Government of Lesotho.
Neither the authors nor BDO LLP
accept or assume any responsibility
or duty of care to any third party.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acronyms ........................................................................................................................... 1
Executive Summary .............................................................................................................. 2
Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 5
1. Global Trends in Business Incubation ............................................................................... 7
2. International and Regional Best Practice ......................................................................... 13
3. Basotho Incubation Context ......................................................................................... 14
4. Strategy Formulation .................................................................................................. 17
5. Strategic Goals and Recommendations ............................................................................ 18
6. Implementation Guidelines and Roadmap ........................................................................ 23

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ACRONYMS
AFDB African Development Bank
BI Business Incubation
BEDCO The Basotho Enterprise Development Corporation
BDS Business Development Services
BDSP Business Development Service Providers
CSR Corporate Social Responsibility
EDSP Economic Diversification Support Project
InBIA International Business Innovation Association (formally NBIA)
LCCI Lesotho Chamber of Commerce and Industry
LNDC Lesotho National Development Corporation
LRA Lesotho Revenue Authority
MD Market Development
MSCM Ministry of Small Business Development, Cooperatives & Marketing
MSME Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
NSDP Government of Lesotho’s National Strategic Development Plan
PED Promoting Enterprise Development
SEDA Small Enterprise Development Agency (RSA)
SME Small and Medium Enterprise

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION
Over the past four years, Lesotho has experienced a period of slow economic growth. This has been in part due to political
instability but also because of slow growth in neighbouring South Africa as well as a decrease in textile exports to the US,
pointing to a need to strengthen the country’s economic competitiveness and export diversification. The Government of
Lesotho’s Second National Strategic Development Plan seeks to address the challenges to economic diversification and
growth, with a focus on the private sector, including providing support to small enterprises and enhancing the capacity of
business advisory support services such as business incubation.
In its endeavour to support economic diversification, the Government of Lesotho with the support of the African
Development Bank have selected BDO LLP to support the promotion of enterprise development. The specific objective of
the project is to support the development and growth of small businesses through the provision of business development
services including the development of a business incubation strategy, introduction of a business plan competition for MSMEs
and to develop a business development services programme that will expand the services and strengthen the BDS market in
Lesotho.
VISION
The vision for the project is that BEDCO will facilitate and coordinate the three work streams of business development
services, incubation and a competitive grant scheme into the implementation of a business incubation strategy which will
support the growth of Basotho MSMEs into a robust and innovative entrepreneurial ecosystem within a dynamic and
diversified economy, generating employment opportunities and increased incomes.
SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY
This strategy falls under the Business Incubation component of Promoting Enterprise Development of Economic
Diversification Support Programme (EDSP-PED) and presents results and recommendations from comprehensive desktop
research, surveys, stakeholder interviews and site visits.
As per the requirements of the Terms of Reference, the overall objective of this report is to develop a strategic framework
for the implementation of a business incubation programme in Lesotho aimed at supporting the growth of the local MSME
sector. The methodology for developing the business incubation strategy has consisted of the following activities:

Literature review of Stakeholder Consultation workshop Presentation to EDSP

STRATEGY APROVAL AND LAUNCH

policy documents consultations with key stakeholders to Task Team for feedback
present assessment
findings and initial
SWOT Analysis
BI ECOSYSTEM ASSESSMENT

Preliminary discussions recommendations Stakeholder validation

with key stakeholders workshop
Review of existing Development of KPIs to
instruments and
PROJECT INCEPTION

Inception Report measure successful

DRAFT BI STRATEGY

Update and finalise

documents for setting business incubation strategy report
up an incubator in strategy
Lesotho
Final presentation and
launch
Assessment of costs and
revenues with business
incuabtion services

Review of best practice

examples from other
contexts

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KEY FINDINGS
Business incubation can be defined as a public and/or private, entrepreneurial, economic and social development process
designed to sustainably nurture business ideas and start-up companies and, through a comprehensive business support
programme, help them establish and accelerate their growth and success. This can be done through an array of business
support resources and services including, physical space, business skills training, coaching, mentoring and advisory services,
access to markets, access to funding, facilitation of networks and creating business partnerships and linkages.
While it is generally accepted that business incubation is a useful tool for economic development, there are varying models
and approaches for incubation depending on the implementing stakeholders, their revenue streams and clients. It is
therefore important that any incubation model is tailored to the unique situation of each organisation, its stakeholders and
clients. In addition to this, the incubation sector continuously evolves and depending on the context, practices will have to
be adapted to meet the needs of the local environment. That being said, it is important to strive to adopt best practices
and to learn from examples of success stories. In the case of Lesotho, there are several lessons to be learned from regional
examples of incubation programmes and in particular the role that SEDA plays in the leadership of business incubation in
South Africa has been identified as a model that can be replicated by BEDCO.
This Strategy seeks to address the challenges of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Lesotho with the aim of implementing a
business incubation programme that will support the growth of Basotho MSMEs into a robust and innovative entrepreneurial
ecosystem within a diversified economy, generating employment opportunities and increased incomes.
STRATEGY OBJECTIVES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Following our assessment of the business incubation ecosystem in Lesotho, the following 4 overarching objectives are
proposed for the development of a Business Incubation Strategy for Lesotho. These objectives are supported by 10 strategic
recommendations which have been informed through consultation with key stakeholders and as presented in the EDSP-PED
BI Assessment Report1:

1 PED Business Incubation Assessment Report. BDO March 2019

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1. strengthen and support the existing BI ecosystem

•provide capacity building support to local inbcubators and BDSPs to enable them to effectively and
efficiently support MSMEs
•incentivise incubation through regulatory and policy reforms to support the growth of new businesses and
create jobs

2. create linkages and expand the network of organisations and programmes supporting
business incuabtion
•create links with complementary programmes delivered through local universities and academic
institutions
•support increased cooperation between the public and private sectors
•establish links to funding mechanisms from the banking sector as well as funding or grant giving sources

3. support growth of the MSME sector

•support and encourage innovative business start-ups, with a focus on Basotho youth-owned businesses
•develop a virtual business incubator to reach those entrepreneurs that do not have access to physical
incubators
•encourage entrepreneurship at the local and community levels

4. support development of a facilitation and coordination entity for business incubation

activities in Lesotho
•facilitate and seed new incubators where feasible
•develop and maintain a comprehensive MSME database, in order to document performance of business
support activities in Lesotho but also to generate information related to business start-up

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INTRODUCTION
Lesotho is one of the smallest countries in Africa in terms of both geographical size and population and has a unique
geographical location – being completely surrounded by its neighbour, South Africa. Historically, Lesotho has been heavily
dependent on South Africa for its imports and on the United States for its textile exports and has achieved solid economic
growth through key sectors such as retail and manufacturing. The majority of businesses operating in these sectors are
MSMEs, and as a result are a key target for ensuring continued economic growth and development.
In the last four years, Lesotho’s growth has considerably slowed down pointing to a need to strengthen the country’s
economic competitiveness and export diversification. The Government of Lesotho’s Second National Strategic Development
Plan (NSDP II) seeks to address many of these challenges to economic diversification and growth, with a focus on the private
sector, including providing support to small enterprises and enhancing the capacity of business advisory support services
such as business incubation.
In its endeavour to support economic diversification, the Government of Lesotho with the support of the African
Development Bank have selected BDO LLP to support the promotion of enterprise development. The specific objective of
the project is to support the development and growth of small businesses through the provision of business development
services including the development of a business incubation strategy, introduction of a business plan competition for MSMEs
and to develop a business development services programme that will expand the services and strengthen the BDS market in
Lesotho.

Project Vision
The vision for the project is to link the three EDSP-PED work streams of business development services, incubation services
and a business plan competition into the implementation of a business incubation strategy which will support the growth of
Basotho MSMEs into a robust and innovative entrepreneurial ecosystem within a dynamic and diversified economy, generating
employment opportunities and increased incomes. This should be a multi-stakeholder owned approach, involving both the
public and private sectors as well as academia, and implemented by BEDCO.

Business
Development
Services

Business
Business Plan
Incubation
Competition
Services

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Scope and Methodology
This Business Incubation Strategy falls under the Business Incubation component of Promoting Enterprise Development of
Economic Diversification Support Programme (EDSP-PED) and presents results and recommendations from comprehensive
desktop research, surveys, stakeholder interviews and site visits.
As per the requirements of the Terms of Reference, the overall objective of this report is to develop a strategic framework
for the implementation of business incubation in Lesotho including an implementation roadmap and a list of regional centres
of excellence and strategy for twinning arrangements, in order to establish and successfully grow a business incubation
programme in Lesotho aimed at supporting the growth of MSMEs.
The methodology for developing the business incubation strategy has consisted of the following activities:

Literature review of Stakeholder Consultation workshop Presentation to EDSP

STRATEGY APPROVAL AND LAUNCH

policy documents consultations with key stakeholders to Task Team for feedback
present assessment
findings and initial
Preliminary discussions SWOT Analysis
BI ECOSYSTEM ASSESSMENT

recommendations Stakeholder validation

with key stakeholders workshop
Review of existing Development of KPIs to
instruments and
PROJECT INCEPTION

Inception Report measure successful

DRAFT BI STRATEGY

Update and finalise

documents for setting business incubation strategy report
up an incubator in strategy
Lesotho
Final presentation and
launch
Assessment of costs and
revenues with business
incuabtion services

Review of best practice

examples from other
contexts

On April 25th 2019, a validation workshop was held at the Avani Maseru Hotel. Validation of survey and research results is a
vital component of the implementation of a BI Strategy. It also provides an avenue for verifying the accuracy of the findings
of the survey by facilitating discussion on the possible reasons for the said findings. Following the Incubation Ecosystem
Assessment in which a large number of stakeholders were engaged to define the framework for the proposed BI Strategy, it
was prudent to feed back the information on both the outcomes of the assessment and the proposed strategy. Workshops
were held with all invited stakeholders on the 25th April 2019 on the BI Assessment and the BI Strategy. The feedback from
these workshops is incorporated into this report.

The BI Strategy should now be reviewed by BEDCO and Government and hopefully accepted as the national strategy going
forward. Based on this approval, an Implementation plan, with details and timing will be developed and executed.

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1. GLOBAL TRENDS IN BUSINESS
INCUBATION
1.1 Business incubation can be defined as a public and/or private, entrepreneurial, economic and social development
process designed to sustainably nurture business ideas and start-up companies and, through a comprehensive business
support programme, help them establish and accelerate their growth and success. This can be done through an array
of business support resources and services including, but not limited to, physical space, business skills training,
coaching, mentoring and advisory services, access to markets, access to funding, facilitation of networks and creating
business partnerships and linkages.
1.2 The incubation process is often a key component for economic development, and in particular in contexts where
there is a large proportion of start-up and small businesses as is the case in Lesotho. Many developing countries are
adopting business incubation as a vehicle for supporting and developing the MSME economy. Given the likelihood of
an incubated firm’s success is much higher than that of a non-incubated firm – around 87% of firms are still in business
after 4 years in comparison to 44% for non-incubated firms, incubators can have a significant impact on supporting
economic growth and job creation and have the potential to provide solutions to some of the key challenges facing
MSMEs such as:

 lack of business knowledge and experience; providing information, training and guidance towards the
establishment of sustainable businesses and establishing business partnerships and linkages;

 lack of management awareness and experience; support not only for the business but also the people behind
the business through people development and support towards attracting, recruiting and retaining adequate
staff;

 lack of social capital and credibility; by association and providing access to relevant contacts, networks and
markets;

 unrealistic expectations; alleviates the common mistake of believing that their emerging business is worth more
than it really is, inhibiting investment and development. It is achieved through sharing experiences with other
entrepreneurs that have overcome these challenges; and,

 barriers to entrepreneurship; low level of demand in the local economy, access to funding and markets, lack
of role models, cultural obstacles, lack of motivation, problems in transition from reliance on government
benefits/employment, Government regulations.

Business Incubation Models

1.3 While it is generally accepted that business incubation is a useful tool for economic development, there are varying
models and approaches for incubation depending on the implementing stakeholders, their revenue streams and
clients. Incubators will vary between countries and regions depending on the local conditions, culture and the range
of other business development services available. Incubators are typically categorised by the industry in which they
operate, but important contributors to the model include the stakeholder group (or ownership which prescribes the
required outcomes), the process or outcomes orientation or the focus group for which the incubation services are
intended. The key incubation models are summarised below:

 sponsored models: incubators where the operating costs are covered to a significant degree by 3rd parties, who
see value in what the incubation produces (e.g. jobs, commercialization, economic diversification, new products,
positioning etc.). They may be sponsored and funded by Governments, donors, corporates and universities.

 success sharing models: programmes where the incubator shares in the financial success of clients such as:
taking a small percentage of equity: as a supplement to the traditional incubator model (typically seen in
technology incubator); Royalty on client revenues, and finance brokerages or own investment fund.
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  property-based incubation model: the traditional property-based incubation model is the most widely used
model. As an example, in 2012, 93% of USA incubators had a dedicated facility. This model often relies on free
physical space or heavily subsidised rental space with long term arrangements so that the rent and associated
facility and office service fees charged to tenants can cover at least a portion of the operating costs;

 virtual business incubation: as noted above, traditionally business incubation has been strongly focused on the
provision of physical office space with access to additional central business support facilities, for some
companies, particularly those in the early phases of development, on-site space and facilities may not be
required at all. For other types of companies, such as high-tech companies operating in an international
environment, physical incubation space may be important but access to virtual services may be equally necessary
in terms of providing specialist knowledge which may not be available through their local business incubator.
Therefore a paradigm shift has been realised where incubation is being considered as a process rather than a
physical space;

Adapted from Vasily Ryzhonkov, 2018: Virtual Business Incubation, Business Models and Strategy.

 seed accelerators: fixed-term, cohort-based programmes that involve mentorship and educational components
culminating in a public pitch event or demo-days. Accelerators are similar to incubators but differ in that they
usually have a greater focus on companies entering or growing in a national or global market. Business
accelerators are more likely to be financed by venture capitalists looking for an opportunity to finance growth
potential through defined action plans and will generally offer all of the services offered by a business incubator.
The business model revolves around early stage investment, fast paced mentor driven learning, market and
business model validation and the development of minimal viable products;

 co-working spaces: shared office location where people can gather to work, share resources and knowledge,
network and grow their businesses. They offer people who work independently a space to work in with others
who share the same values and who are interested in leveraging synergies with others in the same work place.
The co-working concept is based on the values of community, openness, collaboration, accessibility and
sustainability and represents a new way of thinking about how we work and share work space with one another.
1.4 Incubation has also over the past three decades developed and evolved as follows:

 1st Generation where property based and shared services, reactive business support were the norm;
 2nd Generation is typically 1st generation plus proactive business development support and business coaching;
 3rd generation is 1st and 2nd generations plus in-house debt/equity finance for clients or channels to external
providers of finance. The essential very intensive business support programs are typically paid for by sharing in
the success of the company assisted, by way of small equity stakes, royalty arrangements on gross sales for a
period or brokerage fees on finance raised;
 4th generation incubation is 3rd generation incubation incorporating convergent and virtual models, combined
with more sophisticated integration into the value chain, such as closing the gaps or becoming part of the supply

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 chain, developing infrastructure to access markets such as independent marketing companies or becoming the
driver behind the development of whole industries in a country..
1.5 Business incubation is also not an isolated concept and has many similarities with business development services
(BDS), business accelerators, enterprise development programs, technology or science parks and industry clusters, in
that each involves a ‘place’, with processes to achieve specific results with the main aim to grow and support
companies. Furthermore, incubator models are ever evolving and in many instances combine some of the processes
listed above into a single hybrid programme. It is therefore more important to focus on the outcomes than the
business support model, however for clarity the relevant models are described below:

 Science parks: (synonyms: Technology Park, Research park, Cyber Park, Techno poles) provide a location and
infrastructure in which government, universities and private companies cooperate and collaborate, they create
environments that foster collaboration and innovation and are sources of entrepreneurship, talent, and economic
competitiveness. They enhance the development, transfer, and commercialization of technology. Business
incubators are often found within science parks;

 Cluster Development (or Economic Clustering) is the economic development of business clusters to stimulate
urban and regional economic growth, typically in a specific industry. The purpose of a cluster initiative is to
promote economic development within the cluster by improving the competitiveness of one or several specific
business sectors. More specifically, cluster initiatives are organizations or projects that are organized as
collaborations between a diverse number of public and private sector actors, such as firms, government agencies,
and academic institutions. Cluster initiatives generally are involved in a broad range of activities, e.g. supply-
chain development, market intelligence, incubator services, attraction of foreign direct investment,
management training, joint R&D projects, marketing of the region, and setting technical standards;

 Business Development Services (BDS) are at the other end of the spectrum and are general, "one-stop shops"
for entrepreneurial support assistance services supplied (typically by a government), which support all small
enterprises, mostly micro enterprises and family based, and business aspirants, without a focus on growth but
serving large numbers of people. As government funded programs, these services are normally free of charge.
BDS centres can provide/refer suitable clients to business incubators. This approach seeks to improve the
performance of individual enterprises. Some of the most important BDS markets are in training, consultancy,
marketing, market information, information technology and technology transfer.

 Business accelerators are very similar to an incubator, but differ in that they are typically much shorter, more
intense programs, with a greater focus on companies entering in a national or global market, in an industry that
lends it to rapid market penetration or rapid proof of concept. Business accelerators are more likely to be
financed by venture capitalist looking for an opportunity to finance growth potential through defined action
plans. Business accelerators will generally offer all of the services offered by a business incubator. The key
difference is the time and level of hands on involvement.

 Enterprise Development Programs - According to the Nationwide Enterprise Development Administrators,

enterprise development can refer to the creation of new enterprises or the redevelopment or expansion of
existing enterprises. Enterprise development materializes as any action, movement or activity that creates new
business value. The individuals or organizations who have an interest in the result of the enterprise activity are
responsible for funding, guiding or supporting the enterprise development activity toward its objective.
Enterprise development is defined as the act of investing time and capital in helping people establish, expand
or improve businesses. Enterprise development helps people to earn a living; it helps them out of poverty; and
it leads to long-term economic growth for themselves, their families and their communities. The objective of
enterprise development is to create sustainable businesses which grow and lead to job creation, which in turn
contributes to economic growth.

Business Incubation Process

1.6 The key difference between a formal business incubator and other types of business support organisations, is that
incubators do not serve any and all companies. A business qualifying for incubator assistance must meet certain entry
criteria and the assistance provided is specifically geared at accelerating business growth in tailor-made development
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 programmes, whereas other business development services can be provided to entrepreneurs at various stages of
their business needs. Business incubation thus tends to provide intensive and targeted support to businesses with
high-growth potential rather than generic business advice to many entrepreneurs.
1.7 There is no rule as to how long incubation should be, but many consider the “average” period of three years to be
the norm. However, every incubator should make this decision, based on the type of incubator (accelerator, real
estate, virtual, value chain, etc.) and industry (agriculture, ICT, medical) in which the incubator operates. Each of
these requires a different period of incubation. It is also prudent for an incubator not to have a fixed term of
incubation, but to base the planned graduation of the client on the specific needs of the individual client and the
ability of the incubator to add value to the company. The use of specific standards and indicators of growth could be
used as a basic rule.
1.8 The process for business incubation typically follows the following stages:

 start-up creation (pre-incubation): this stage of the process is when support is given to potential entrepreneurs
in the development of a business idea, business model and business plan so as to boost their chances to arrive at
an effective and viable start-up. Pre-incubation is used to limit the costs of support to clients when it is still
uncertain whether their business concepts are worthy of the full incubator process. Governments often support this
stage of the process by providing basic business development services and facilitating entrepreneurship through
attractive policies (i.e. tax holidays and ease of business registration and compliance), so as to encourage start-up
entrepreneurs to seek incubation support. Incubators are also using techniques such as Business Model Canvass
(BMC) or business plan competitions to increase the flow of high potential incubatees.

2
Sourced from Vasily Ryzhonkov blog on - entrepreneurship, business incubation, innovation management, business models and strategy.

 Early stage (Incubation): Incubation is concerned with the support of the entrepreneur from the start-up to the
expansion phase. Typically this process lasts for the period that the incubator can actually add value to the venture.
During this phase it should be clear that the new venture is going to be successful and has good growth potential.
Support generally includes access to facilities and equipment, access to finance, markets and networks, coaching
and mentoring, training, and more as depicted in the graphic below adopted from Al-Mubaraki, and Busler, 2011.

2 Adopted from Al-Mubaraki, and Busler, 2011

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 Source: Vasily Ryzhonkov ibid,

 Post-incubation: Post-incubation relates to the activities after the company has reached the maturity phase and
graduated from the programme. It is important for incubators to maintain the relationship with graduates, as their
real growth and economic performance mostly realises after graduation. With equity and royalty models it is of
course imperative to maintain the relationship after graduation. Graduates also provide a good source of role
models, venture coaches and networks.

Financing and Revenue Strategies

1.9 Although it is normal practice for incubators to use a combination of various strategies for generating income, the
following four are the most common streams of income for incubators:

 through the provision of services, such as incubation support or facilities rental. Rental income tends to be
the primary source of own-generated income for incubators and this is usually achieved when the incubator has
access to either free or subsidised office spaces of sufficient scale to allow rent and associated charges (utilities,
meeting rooms, IT services etc.) to cover the basic operating costs. For this model to succeed there needs to be
an a strong existing relationship between the incubator and the owner of the facilities. This income generating
model will typically require lean staffing;

 donor or grant funding, including sponsorships and corporate social investment as well as academic
initiatives. This model is currently the most prevalent in Lesotho – out of the 8 existing business incubators in
Lesotho 6 of them have been established through sponsorship. Standard Bank Lesotho and Vodacom Innovation
Park as CSR initiatives, 2 academic programmes through Limkokwing University and NUL, and 2 BEDCO
(Government-funded) programmes.

 Success sharing model. Under this model the incubator shares in the financial success of its clients, either
through a small percentage of equity or royalty, which means that the incubator only generates income if its
clients are successful. Success sharing incubators tend to have strong management practices due to the nature
of the model and are mostly used in contexts with high growth potential industries and small businesses.

 generating income through commercial activities such as consulting or commercial project management. An
incubator operating in a specific sector would have a number of clients in that industry and also an extensive
network of other companies that could complement the services provided by the incubator clients. Large tenders
typically incorporate and require a number of skill sets to complete. For example, a construction project would

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 need plumbers, electricians, builders, painters, etc. A large IT contract could require a programmer, web
developer, hardware, software, networking, and cabling. An incubator would have access to many of these
resources through their incubated companies. Any resources not available within the incubatee grouping could
be sourced from the network. This places the incubator in an ideal position to manage such a large contract by
sub-contracting the parts to the clients who are able to perform the tasks. The incubator achieves two things by
doing this: 1) It creates work for the client companies and 2) generates income through the contract management
process. Again, there are many companies in your local environments that do this for a business. They don’t have
the skills in-house, but will simply sub-contract the required skills. Many consulting companies work on this
principle and illustrate that this business model has potential.
1.10 Even though Government funding falls under the category of donor or grant funding incubation, governments tend to
play a key role under all incubation models. This is because they have a responsibility to address the early stage
business development market which is the foundation of many economies, and in particular in emerging or developing
markets such as Lesotho. Governments however change, and so do their priorities so it is important for incubators to
be resilient to changes in public policy priorities.

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2. INTERNATIONAL AND REGIONAL
BEST PRACTICE
2.1 In designing a BI Strategy it is imperative to at least adhere to international best practice. The International Business
Innovation Association (InBIA, formally NBIA) lists the following principles of good incubation practice:

 obtain consensus on the incubator’s mission and develop a strategic plan to achieve its mission. Incubation
programmes should establish their mission and strategic plans at the early stages in order to guide their growth.
In doing so, it is also essential to identify and develop a network of stakeholders that are willing to support the
programme, as well as to establish an effective application and screening process for prospective clients to
ensure that they can help the incubator achieve its mission;

 public sector support is essential to business incubation programme success. On average up to 60% of an
incubator’s budget is accounted for by client rent and service fees while the rest of the funding is provided by
the public sector. This public sector support is generally required to set up incubation programmes, with the aim
that the incubators will eventually become financially self-reliant (ideally within a period of 3-5 years). A
significant reason why business incubation has gained traction in Southern Africa is because it has had champions
within the senior echelons of government;

 plan for financial sustainability by developing and implementing a realistic business plan. While public sector
support is essential when supporting the success of incubation programmes at the start-up stage, in order to
ensure sustainability and by ensuring that incubators plan for financial success from the outset by outlining
revenue streams, expenditures, and investments on a realistic basis;

 outcome and impact data collection is a key requirement for the success of any incubation programme.
Successful incubators should constantly monitor their performance by collecting data on business graduation and
survival rates, graduate business revenues and job creation etc. By doing so, both incubates and the incubator
can be benchmarked, trends can be determined, comparisons can be made, and lessons can be learned.

2.2 In addition to international best practice, there are several lessons to be learned from the regional examples that
were cited in the BI Assessment Report. In particular the role that SEDA plays in the leadership of business incubation
in South Africa has been identified as a model that can be replicated by BEDCO in Lesotho (please refer to BI
Assessment Report).

2.3 Whilst it is important to strive to adopt best practices and to learn from examples of success stories, it is also essential
to note that as the incubation sector evolves so will practices and that depending on the context, practices will have
to be adapted to meet the needs of the local environment.

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3. BASOTHO INCUBATION CONTEXT
3.1 The analysis of the BI eco-system compiled in the BI Assessment Report3 identified the following shortcomings in the
Lesotho BI landscape that will be addressed through this Business Incubation Strategy:

 encouraging innovation is a challenge – there is a tendency for people to mimic other business ideas rather than
explore ways of developing complementary businesses. There is also a need to educate support organisations.
There is considerable support given to MSME development and youth entrepreneurship by the government and a
range of donor-funded initiatives, offering an opportunity to engage such stakeholders to support business
incubation programmes;

 even within the limited business incubation services provided in Lesotho, it is evident that quality and level of
support ranges depending on the service provider. There are no clear standards or procedures for supporting
business incubation capacity building, nor for the delivery of business incubation services. In the absence of such
standards and procedures, there is a risk that providers will not be incentivised to provide high quality services
which will in turn affect the success rates of business start-ups in Lesotho;

 there is an obvious disjointed effort with regards to business incubation activity in Lesotho. There is very little
cooperation between the current incubators and BDSPs working with them. The practitioners have scant market
presence (including online) and limited data or information to disseminate to prospective MSME clients.
Incubators also have a very diverse portfolio of services, invariable of inconsistent quality. An organisation such
as BEDCO is ideally placed to take on the role of coordinator and facilitator between the main stakeholder groups
in the provision of incubation services;

 current incubation programmes receive very little start-up and continued support from government, in fact
Government (through BEDCO) is in direct competition with commercial incubation programmes. Although
incubators are delivering on the mandate of government to create conditions conducive to job creation and
economic activity, there is no financial and/or technical support offered by government to current private,
corporate and university based incubators;

 there is clear lack of centralised and accurate data on MSMEs, BDSPs and incubators across the enterprise
development ecosystem. This information is necessary to establish past successes or failures and determine
future implementation strategies;

 difficulty in accessing finance is relevant for incubators and MSMEs alike. Incubators lack the resources and
support to start and grow business incubators whilst MSMEs require forms of capital appropriate to their stage of
development. Grants and angel funding are often sought by early stage business start-up enterprises, many of
which are also depending on free labour. Business incubators need to develop diverse income streams including
equity, royalty and concessional debt financing. Access to finance and models of finance more relevant to start-
ups and MSMEs should be developed;

 a heavy dependency on imports creates high competition which tends to kill the emergence of micro-enterprises
especially in the production sector. The commercial viability of incubators inhibit their business models and
ability to support clients in rural areas. While they may be highly motivated by the impact of their work, there
is little willingness for business incubators to be permanently based in remote areas. This is a challenge as the
need for business support services is often greatest in rural areas. Similarly clients in rural areas have difficulty
in accessing markets.

3.2 The table below maps out how these challenges can be addressed through our proposed strategic recommendations,
what the intended results would be, and which stakeholders are to be involved. These recommendations are then
further expanded upon in Section 5 of the Report.

3 PED BI Assessment Report – March 2019

14 FINAL BUSINESS INCUBATION STRATEGY
14 INCEPTION REPORT
 Strategic Recommendation
1 support innovative business start-ups
2 provide capacity-building to
incubators and BDSPs
3 increased cooperation between
public and private sectors to be
facilitated through BEDCO
4 create links with academic
programmes
5 establish links to funding
Challenges addressed
lack of innovative business ideas
difficulty distributing and accessing
markets
lack of training standards
disjointed business incubation ecosystem
challenges accessing finance
lack of innovative business ideas
lack of innovative business ideas
lack of training standards
disjointed business incubation ecosystem
challenges accessing finance
lack of innovative business ideas
disjointed business incubation ecosystem
15 FINAL BUSINESS INCUBATION STRATEGY
15
Intended results Stakeholders to be involved
job creation (focusing on youth) academic institutions
new business ideas and concepts that address BEDCO
Lesotho’s socioeconomic challenges
MSCM, Ministry of Education
economic diversification
Incubators/BDSPs
higher quality training which in turn will lead to BEDCO
more successful business start-up rates
Academic institutions
job creation
Business incubators/BDS experts
more efficient and effective business BEDCO
environment
MSCM, Ministry of Planning, Ministry of
better access to information related to MSMEs Finance
and business start-up (legal, policy, financial)
LCCI
reduce bureaucracy
PSFL
higher quality training which in turn will lead to Ministry of Education
more successful business start-up rates
Academic institutions
job creation (focusing on youth)
BEDCO
Business incubators/BDS experts
attract higher number of potential entrepreneurs BEDCO
job creation (focusing on youth) Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning
Private sector
Banking sector
Central Bank of Lesotho
Donor-funded grant programmes
INCEPTION REPORT
6 develop virtual business incubator
7 develop and maintain MSME
database
8 incentivise incubation through
regulatory and policy reforms
9 Facilitate and seed new incubators
where feasible
10 encourage entrepreneurship at local
and community levels
lack of training standards
lack of innovative business ideas
difficulty distributing and accessing
markets
lack of data
disjointed business incubation ecosystem
challenges accessing finance
disjointed business incubation ecosystem
lack of innovative business ideas
lack of training standards
difficulty distributing and accessing
markets
16 FINAL BUSINESS INCUBATION STRATEGY
16
better access to information related to MSMEs BEDCO
and business start-up (legal, policy, financial)
Business incubators/BDS experts
higher quality training which in turn will lead to
MSCM
more successful business start-up rates
District Administration
job creation (focusing on youth)
growth of business community in more remote or
rural areas
better access to information related to MSMEs BEDCO
and business start-up (legal, policy, financial)
MSCM
job creation (focusing on youth)
District Administration
more efficient and effective business MSCM
environment
Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning
better access to information related to MSMEs
LCCI
and business start-up (legal, policy, financial)
PSFL
reduce bureaucracy
job creation (focusing on youth) BEDCO
new business ideas and concepts that address Business incubators/BDS experts
Lesotho’s socioeconomic challenges
MSCM
higher quality training which in turn will lead to
more successful business start-up rates
job creation (focusing on youth) at the local level BEDCO
push towards production (rather than MSCM
consumption) economy
Business incubators/BDS experts
growth of business community in more remote or
District administration
rural areas
INCEPTION REPORT
4. STRATEGY FORMULATION
4.1 Strategy formulation refers to the process of choosing the most appropriate course of action for the realisation of the
proposed business incubation goals and objectives, and thereby achieving the project’s overall vision. The strategy
formulation process involved the following five key steps:

1. setting strategic goals: the key component of any strategy document is to set long-term objectives for achieving
an overall vision. The goals for this strategy were selected following an assessment of what the key challenges are
in the incubation ecosystem in Lesotho (as listed in the section above), coupled with stakeholder consultations to
agree on what the main objectives are in addressing these challenges. The four strategic goals are detailed in the
following section, and support the long term view that BEDCO should as far as possible not compete with other
incubators but should rather act as a facilitator to start up and support to develop sustainably in Lesotho;

2. evaluation of the ecosystem: the next step was to evaluate the ecosystem within which business incubation
operates in Lesotho. The purpose of such review is to ensure that the external factors which will determine the
success of the strategy are understood and factored into the design of the strategy. Through this evaluation, it is
clear that although the current incubation ecosystem is weak there is ample local stakeholder support to establish
and expand incubators into a sustainable and efficient ecosystem;

3. setting quantitative targets: this step involved setting quantitative target values for the objectives so as to enable
progress monitoring over the course of implementation. This will be done through the M&E framework;

4. contextualising: whilst consultations were made with key stakeholders, it is essential to understand how the
proposed strategy will influence other actors. Thus, an initial engagement was made at district levels and it is
proposed that rural actors will be continuously engaged throughout the implementation of the strategy. It is also
important to understand how the proposed strategy fits within a wider context of international best practice, thus
twinning arrangements have been suggested for lesson learning with other similar initiatives in the region;

5. process mapping: this is the ultimate step in strategy formulation which sets out the best course of action for
implementing and achieving the strategic goals. This has been developed following consideration of the current
enabling environment for a business incubation strategy and the potential strengths or limitations for implementing
this strategy.

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5. STRATEGIC GOALS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 In response to the above listed challenges, that have been informed through consultation with key stakeholders, the
following four overarching strategic goals are recommended for business incubation in Lesotho. These tie into the
proposed vision of the implementation of a business incubation strategy that will support the growth of Basotho MSMEs
into a robust and innovative entrepreneurial ecosystem within a dynamic and diversified economy, generating
employment opportunities and increased incomes.

Strategic Goal 2
create linkages and expand
Strategic Goal 3
the network of organisations support growth of the MSME
and programmes supporting sector
business incubation

Strategic Goal 4
Strategic Goal 1 support development of a
facilitation and coordination
strengthen and support the VISION entity for business
existing BI ecosystem
Growth of Basotho MSMEs incubation activities in
into a robust and Lesotho
innovative entrepreneurial
ecosystem with a dynamic
and diversified economy,
generating employment
opportunities and increased
incomes

5.2 The four strategic goals are further expanded below, detailing the specific programmes of activities that are required
in order to achieve each of the specific goals.

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 STRATEGIC GOAL 1: STRENGTHEN AND SUPPORT THE EXISTING BI ECOSYSTEM

provide capacity building support to local incentivise incubation through regulatory and
incubators and BDSPs to enable them to policy reforms to support the growth of new
effectively and efficiently support MSMEs businesses and create jobs

Required Programmes to Achieve Goal

capacity building programmes to monitor and actively engage

support high performing BDSPs to
enhance incubator management decision makers to improve
develop into incubator
skills, performance and regulatory and policy framework in
programmes
productivity of business incubators relation to incubation

Proposed Activities

1. support district business centres/ incubators through capacity building, practical training, fieldwork and field visits
2. capacity building of incubator management and training staff to enable them to provide best practice BI support
3. development of a 'how to' guideline on setup, diagnostics and evaluation of BI programmes
5. develop of M&E systems and support for training of incubator staff in appropriate evaluation systems
6. ensure individual incubators have autonomy in their actions to stimulate and support new entrepreneurs
7. support planning and resource mobilisation for the BI strategy implementation
8. contact respondents who have indicated a strong desire to be involved in BI incubator programs and engage with them
for future cooperation

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STRATEGIC GOAL 2: CREATE LINKAGES AND EXPAND THE NETWORK OF ORGANISATIONS AND
PROGRAMMES SUPPORTING BUSINESS INCUBATION
create links with establish links to funding
complementary programmes support increased cooperation mechanisms from the banking
delivered through local between the public and sector as well as funding or
universities and academic private sectors grant giving sources
institutions

Required Programmes to Achieve Goal

development of high performing university host regular conferences and workshops to encourage
programmes and support networking across relevant stakeholders

Proposed Activities
1. enhance relationships between incubators and universities and other stakeholders
2. support break down of barriers for entry - access to universities, corporations, banks, Government, etc.
3. support a national institution for market linkages formation and mandated to develop selected enterprise value chains
and facilitate producer market linkages for each village per district council.
4. continue to build a network (and contact list and database) of organizations involved in entrepreneurship development.
Run summits, conferences and workshops, facilitate and fund visits from international experts in business incubation,
develop linkages with international incubation networks, identifying and supporting the development of best practice in
business incubation, organize peer review capability assessments of incubators.
5. Liaise with those organizations that are currently involved in Entrepreneurship and/or MSME development and determine
if there is scope for further co-operation and support for local incubators
6. Set up a communications program with regular feedback to these potential stakeholders. This could include a formal
website and/or monthly newsletter

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STRATEGIC GOAL 3: SUPPORT GROWTH OF THE MSME SECTOR
develop a virtual business
support and encourage
incubator to reach those encourage entrepreneurship at
innovative business start-ups,
entrepreneurs that do not the local and community levels
with a focus on Basotho youth-
have access to physical
owned businesses
incubators

Required Programmes to Achieve Goal

grant scheme to promote

communication programme to
improve the image of
entrepreneurship and business
incubation
incubation programmes
strategic review of BEDCO
(public/private) and relevant
mandate towards a facilitator role
stakeholders with inclusivity
across all districts

Proposed Activities

1. support continuous community mobilisation committees formed in each of the10 districts to ensure engagment
2. provide start-up guidance and coaching to MSMEs through business incubation
3. develop an adequate financial access system friendly for MSMEs to encourage entrepreneurs to establish innovative
businesses
4. support value chain and market study analysis to identify market access and administrative barriers for young companies.
5. support district Business centres/ incubators through capacity building.
6. support select value chain for selected enterprises and develop not only the VC actors but also market linkages of the
farmer to consumers and accumulators.
7. Program to motivate each community at village level to start production of products to generate income.
8. Program to support Community Capacity Assessment for incubation

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STRATEGIC GOAL 4: SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT OF A FACILITATION AND COORDINATION ENTITY FOR
BUSINESS INCUBATION ACTIVITIES IN LESOTHO
develop and maintain a comprehensive MSME
database, in order to document performance of
facilitate and seed new incubators where
business support activities in Lesotho but also
feasible
to generate information related to business
start-up

Required Programmes to Achieve Goal

transform and support the current fund and support the

strategic review of BEDCO
network of incubators to become establishment of new independent
mandate towards a facilitator role
self-sustaining incubators.

Proposed Activities

1. capacity building of incubator oversight staff

2. support planning and resource mobilisation for the BI strategy implementation
3. support an MSMEs/Incubator/BDS Facilitator; a public agency which would coordinate and collaborate actions, ensure
standards
4. establish a framework for monitoring and evaluating incubation programs and develop a programme management system
for the collection of performance data from incubators
5. restructure BEDCO and develop a department focused on supporting coordination of incubation activities

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6. IMPLEMENTATION GUIDELINES AND
ROADMAP
6.1. Strategy implementation is the translation of a chosen strategy into organisational action so as to achieve the
strategic goals and objectives. Following are the key steps that will be essential for the successful implementation
of this strategy:

 supporting BEDCO to take ownership of the coordination and facilitation of incubation activities in Lesotho. In
order to achieve this, BEDCO will need to assess its organisational structure to ensure that it is equipped to carry
out the strategy successfully;
 allocation and disbursement of resources to strategy-essential activities;
 development and enforcement of policies that will support enabling environment for the successful
implementation of the strategy; and
 encouraging lessons-learning and adopting best practice for constant improvement of strategic activities and
entrepreneur development.

6.2. In terms of enabling environment, the BI Strategy will require formal approval from government and buy-in from
relevant departments at various levels. The following actions are proposed to ensure government buy-in:
 ensure that government policy is broadly focused – policy should be developed that is holistic and encompasses
all components of the ecosystem;
 support natural growth not top-down solutions – start to build from existing MSMEs that have formed naturally
within the districts or country then seek to generate new entrepreneurial culture from district communities;
 provide facilitation through leadership but delegate responsibility and ownership – adopt both a top-down and
bottom-up approach devolving responsibility to local and district authorities; and
 develop policy that addresses the needs of both the business and its management team – ensure and recognise
that micro and small business policy is transactional while entrepreneurship policy is relational in nature.

6.3. It will be essential to prepare annual work plans and budgets, in coordination with relevant Government departments,
before the start of the fiscal year and submit them for review and approval.

6.4. It will also be important to define, monitor and evaluate specific project activities to be undertaken and ensure their
coordination and integration with the relevant entities by assisting, as needed, in tasks such as preparing the tender
documents and Requests for Applications (RFA) and managing the procurement process.

6.5. Effective monitoring and evaluation of the performance and to protect the integrity of the data provided unscheduled
audits on the operations by BEDCO should be undertaken. Inconsistencies should be viewed as critical and resolved
immediately. Implement a Programme Management system that tracks performance. Develop and maintain a project
information system which would consolidate reports received from the grant recipients within each Incubation
Program and generate quarterly progress reports, which would be submitted to the Director for review and action.

6.6. Finally, an implementation roadmap will be developed by PED with the support of and approval of BEDCO. The
following elements should be included in the roadmap:
 analysis/audit of the required skills and abilities plus skills gap analysis including engagement of other relevant
stakeholders;
 management of implementation team and staff identification;
 analysis of training needs;
 recommended organisational structure and sustainability plan;
 BEDCO policies & procedures, framework for selection & support of Incubator projects; and
 monitoring & evaluation of performance framework to be developed.

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Monitoring and Evaluation
6.7. The goal of an incubator and/or any business development processes is to create value for the investor/funder/donor
and for the clients. To track & monitor basic business incubation performance measures (indicators) these need to
be clearly defined and agreed with the investor/funder/donor. This clear definition of the outcomes required also
facilitates the development of the incubator business model.

6.8. Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) is based on these indicators needs to be collected and analysed on a regular basis.
This seems like a mundane task, but it is notoriously difficult to collect actual and correct data in a timeous manner.
For this reason it is proposed that a real time incubator management system be developed for use all participating
incubation programmes.

6.9. The key to accelerating the growth of any business is to make good decisions quickly. And the faster an entrepreneur
makes good decisions, the faster the business will grow. Having good data feeds good decisions, but data isn’t
meaningful unless you can compare it to key performance metrics or indicators of success. Although each situation
is unique, there is a shared set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that can help incubators and incubation
programmes achieve their goals. Most commonly used KPIs include:

 Job Creation: Incubators are seen as effective tools for creating self-employment opportunities, conventional
product or service companies, and high-growth companies. Incubators also are used to develop innovation, transfer
technology, and impart an entrepreneurial spirit. The cost of creating a job (per sector) is also used as a key
performance indicator.

 Economic Development: Incubators are used as much for spurring regional economic development and establishing
industry clusters as they are for revitalizing urban environments and industry. KPIs which include revenue growth,
exports and tax contribution are typically used

 International Networks: Incubators are also be used to develop international networks of micro, small and medium-
sized companies (MSME). The number of networking activities and international agreements are commonly used.

 Programme and strategy: Number of Incubators supported; Number of new incubators set up; Number of District
community Incubation and Business centres run at the district level to support mass and young Entrepreneurial
ventures number of clients in the programme, small and medium-sized companies

6.10. Other KPIs for incubators include basic outputs such as:
 the number/percentage of graduates who are still operating their incubated start-ups post-graduation;
 total number of graduates, total revenues, total employment, and total funds raised; and
 7–10 years into the program, the return on investment to the investors who funded the incubator.

Twinning Arrangements
6.11. Through our assessment or regional incubators and following extensive consultation with BEDCO, we have identified
SEDA as an organisation for twinning with BEDCO. We are currently in discussions to organise a site visit to SEDA, but
in the meantime propose the following arrangements for twinning:

 Common objectives defined: Working with BEDCO and SEDA will draw the key objectives of the twinning
action. This should be the first question when establishing a twinning link. You and your partner should define
together clear objectives and types of activities, and where possible agree from the outset on dates by which an
assessment of the project can be established. If this is not done, the twinning may well fail, due to
misunderstandings or misperceptions. It is useful to reassess the objectives and actions from time to time, to make
sure you are all committed to the same priorities for the twinning.

 Support structure created: Over time, the energy behind the partnership can weaken. A small but active team, in
each of the twinned components should help to maintain connections, develop the partnership through the new

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24 INCEPTION REPORT
 projects, and seek financing. This twinning “motor” can be a sort of steering committee for the twinning, or an
association accredited by the municipality which works in cooperation with the town and its other associations, as
well as with the partner town.

 Work with Incubators, Entrepreneur association, Chambers of Commerce and young people: There are many
ways of involving the above groups in twinning. Incubatees exchanges or even students of apprenticeships are often
one of the high points of a partnership, and can help to stimulate interest in learning the Business Models of the
partner country and sector.

 Web-based solution: Virtual business incubation can be used to provide support, tools and services to make it easy
for incubators to form short or long term partnerships in any subject area.

 Address the major issues of our day: Activities developed through twinning links will help citizens to be aware of
Business incubation and entrepreneurship current issues; this will be particularly true for young people.

 Plan a sustainable relationship: A good twinning link must be able to withstand the test of time, and not merely
reflect the prevailing mood of the day in the sector. Strong friendships and true links of solidarity between the
participants of different incubation projects need time to grow.

 Look to the future and build the basis for new exchanges: The twinning links should create an ideal environment
in which to develop new cooperation techniques. Exchange of experience as well as joint reflection on specific
issues can help find solutions or bring improvements.

 Develop a budget and look after the finances: Last but not least, look after the finances any trans-national
partnership is bound to cost some money, however carefully the partnership events shall be jointly planned and
organized. BEDCO and SEDA already have an MOU which they can build on to include the key objectives on twinning
arrangements. It is helpful if the government can allocate an annual budget, even if it is not a very large sum, to
keep the twinning momentum going.

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25 INCEPTION REPORT
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STRATEGY, BUDGET AND MILESTONES.

GOALS

PROJECT LIST Innova social and smart participation enhance implementer Budget
tion economic specialization and visibility Start-ups
benefit growth

Strategic Goal 1 : Provide support in the BI eco-system

1. Developing innovation through improving x x x MSCM/BEDCO

Research & Development,

2. Enhancing relationships between incubators and x x x x MoE/MSCM

universities,

3. Capacity building of incubator oversight staff x BEDCO/MSCM

4. Developing an adequate financial system to x x x BEDCO/MSCM/St

encourage entrepreneurs to establish innovative andard Bank
businesses; Revolving fund-soft loaning mechanism Lesotho

5. Support for start-up guidance and coaching x x x BEDCO/MSCM/St

towards successful businesses, led from better andard Bank
functioning incubators. Lesotho

6. Support the Setup of a program Coordination team x x PSC/MSCM/BEDC

(PCT) O

7. Support to planning and resource mobilization for x x x PED/ PSC/MoF/

the BI strategy implementation NSDP/ MSCM/
BEDCO

8. Support to Local and expert trainers to speed up BI x x BEDCO/PSC/MSC

Strategy Across Sectors M

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26 INCEPTION REPORT
9. Development of a 'how to' handbook' (on x x x MSCM/BEDCO/P
diagnostics and evaluation) SC/Universities

10. Support to Organisation of the MSMEs annual x BEDCO/MSMEs

'Improvement Day'. Associations

11. Support to BI Services standard practical training, x x BEDCO/BDSPs -

fieldwork, visits PSC

Strategic Goal 2. Expand the BI linkages and network

1. Continuation of process to create an urgency x Universities/MS

within State and Universities to make an honest CM/MoE
assessment of the problems

2. Support to bringing down barriers for entry, x x x BEDCO/Universit

access to University knowledge and financial ies/MSCM
management

3. Support to facilitate university incubators be more x x Universities/MS

financially independent – managed sustainably CM/BEDCO

Strategic Goal 3. Support MSMEs in Lesotho

1. Support an annual Monitoring and evaluation of x x x MSCM/BEDCO

the performance of the incubation system

2. Support to development of measures to create x x MSCM/BEDCO

clear procedure incubation programmes

3. Support to Value chain and Market study to x x MoA/MSCM/

Identify market access and administrative barriers for BEDCO /
young companies.

4. Support to Training incubator staff in appropriate x x x MSCM/BEDCO

evaluation systems

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27 INCEPTION REPORT
5. Support Give individual incubators more x x x BEDCO/
autonomy in their actions to stimulate and support Sky/Grind
new entrepreneurs Nation/ NUL and
Limkokwing/
Maluti Kick Start

6. Support an MSMEs/Incubator/BDS Facilitator x x MSCM/BEDCO/P

(BEDCO); a public agency which would coordinate and SC
collaborate actions, ensure standards, and procedures
adherence, while dissemination information to MSMEs
on services and how to procure.

Strategic Goal 4. Facilitate and coordinate BI activities in Lesotho

1. Support a continuous community mobilization x x x District /County

committees formed in each of the 10 districts and councils
every council to motivate and mobilise for Action.

2. Support district Business centres / incubators x District/County

capacity build communities to selectively produce Councils
goods with high added value.

3. Support organized villages produce one x x x x district/County

competitive and staple product as a business to gain Councils /BEDCO
sales revenue to improve the standard of living for the
residents of that village

4. Support a national institution for market x x MSCM/

Linkages formation and mandated to develop select BEDCO/MoA
enterprise value chains and facilitate producer market
linkages for teach village.

5. Support select value chain for selected x x x MSCM/

enterprises and develop not only the VC actors but BEDCO/MoA
also Market linkages of the farmer to consumers and
Accumulators.

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6. Ensure value addition within the production x x x x District
areas and the transformation stage of the products. Admins/BEDCO/
MSCM/

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 APPENDIX 1: Policy Areas Required to support successful implementation of BI Strategy
ESTABLISHMENT OF PROCEDURES AND REGULATION OF BUSINESS INCUBATION TO ENHANCE START-UP GROWTH

POLICY AREA INNOVAT SOCIAL SMART PARTICIPATIO ENHANCE IMPLEMENTER BUDGET

ION AND SPECIALIZATI N AND START-
ECONOMI ON VISIBILITY UPS
C GROWTH
BENEFIT

1. Support to Develop a BDS / BI nexus centres at regions x x x District

and districts, Admins/County
Councils/
BEDCO/MSCM

2. Support to Registration of all one Village One enterprise x x x x District

development programmes in each district, in each Admins/County
community councils and village. Councils/
BEDCO/MoA/Mo
L/Mo

3. Support to undertake a review and develop a renewed x x x x PSC/PSD/BEDCO

BEDCO business re-engineering and an informed enterprise / MSCM
architecture into a BDS/BI- Start-up facilitator.

4. Support to Virtual Business incubation platform and x x x BEDCO/District

district support equipment to run the VBI services Admins/County
Councils

5. Support Legislation for supportive and enabling x x PSC/PSD/BEDCO

environment for MSMEs Business Incubation policies and / MSCM
legislation, and Start-up growth enablement

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