MIT Kuo Sharper Center for Prosperity and Entrepreneurship
Center for Development and Entrepreneurship Blogs
Systems Change Approach to Rethink Entrepreneurship
To solve the world’s most entrenched challenges, from affordable housing to energy poverty, we must shift from treating symptoms to transforming market systems. This as part of our latest paper and blog series, which introduces a new framework for Systems Change Entrepreneurship, offering entreprene...
The Rise of Global Growth Markets as the New Engine of Progress
The markets once labeled “emerging” are not simply catching up to advanced economies — they are charting new pathways that can define the global future. They represent 85% of the world’s population and are now the primary engines of growth and creativity. What was once seen as “potential” is now und...
Press Release MIT Kuo Sharper Center Deep Tech Program
The MIT Kuo Sharper Center for Prosperity and Entrepreneurship today announced the launch of the Deep Tech Program in Africa—developed in collaboration with the Government of Botswana and co-designed with Material Impact. The program gives top scientific minds from across Africa the opportunity to t...
PRESS RELEASE: Botswana Collaboration Kickoff
The Center officially kicked off our multi-year collaboration with the Government of Botswana, marked by a series of exciting events including the first Foundry Fellow Reunion in Africa, the start of our 12-week early-stage entrepreneurship program with over 31 startups and the preparations for exci...
Power of Storytelling: Reflections from Botswana
This summer, Lexi Chu joined our team in Botswana for the launch of our early-stage entrepreneurship bootcamp hosted at the Botswana Digital & Innovation Hub (BDIH). Tasked with capturing video and content from the three-day program, Lexi connected with over 30 early-stage founders, listening, docum...
From Scarcity to Scale Blog by Layla Abushakra
"Africa doesn’t want our pity; it needs unity. It needs a reminder of its centuries of history and rich ancestry. It needs voice, not silence. It needs investment not just in Africa, but with it."
From MIT to Global Growth Markets and Back
What do pink hens, digital twins, and mighty microbes have in common? MIT – and global changemakers seeking to transform their regions.
How Central Asia Builds its Shared Identity
Ask most people to point to Central Asia on a map, and chances are they’ll hesitate. Yet this region spanning vast steppes, celestial mountains and centuries of history sits at the crossroads of civilizations, resource-rich, culturally layered, and geopolitically central. So why does it remain on th...
How Our Fellows Utilize AI in Their Work
Across 11 countries and 3 continents, the 2024-2025 cohort of Student Fellows at the MIT Kuo Sharper Center for Prosperity and Entrepreneurship are building ventures rooted in the realities of their communities and countries. These 12 entrepreneurs are using artificial intelligence (AI) not only to ...
Outdated or Evolving? by Salma Bagdadhi
In 2019, when Tunisia launched the Startup Act, the ecosystem was still young. A handful of incubators and accelerators existed—mostly concentrated in the capital, Tunis, and operating within high-income circles. There was an urgent need to democratize access to knowledge about tech entrepreneurship...
Other Sources on Entrepreneurship
How Botswana will benefit from MIT’s Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship
President Dr. Mokgweetsi EK Masisi of Botswana delivered a keynote speech at the conference, emphasizing the pivotal role entrepreneurship can play in driving prosperity for emerging economies.
Nigerian entrepreneur lauded for digital healthcare initiative
A digital healthcare initiative that has enabled some 260,000 patients in Nigerian villages to access healthcare is among innovations celebrated by a top American university.
Meet the Founders in This Year's MIT delta v Startup Accelerator
A machine that turns sewage into fuel. Clothing that tracks your movements during workouts. These were the products pitched by the teams graduating from this year's MIT delta v accelerator.
(Webinar Recap) 3 Ways Digital Health Is Expanding Access to Care
With global expansion in connectivity, digital health is playing a growing role in improving the efficiency and efficacy of health systems and delivery models in emerging markets.
Does the acceleration of digital transformation represent an opportunity for emerging economies?
For decades, information and communication technologies (ICTs) have variably impacted people, enterprises, and societies and have demonstrated the potential to become a game changer.
On the dangerous return of the mercantilism
The developing countries must act with all the means at their disposal against protectionist restrictions on international trade and investment, writes Mahmoud Mohieldin.
12 Insights From A Decade Of Investing In Female Entrepreneurs
The data has shown what many of us have known and experienced for years- the journey for female entrepreneurs to get to the same point of success as their male counterparts is longer.
A startup in Kenya is launching “Uber for ambulances”
In Nairobi, most things can be ordered from your phone—an Uber, or taxi from one of several other taxi hailing app companies and soon, Nairobians will also be able order an ambulance from their phones