MIT Kuo Sharper Center for Prosperity and Entrepreneurship
Center for Development and Entrepreneurship Blogs
Africa's Renewable Boom Is Expanding. African Ownership Isn't.
Much of the discourse around the pace at which renewable energy has taken off in Africa has centred largely on two themes: cost of capital and regulatory certainty. In reply to "The real barrier to Africa's solar energy boom" by Rabah Arezki, Linda Mabhena-Olagunju argues the wider discourse misses ...
The Hidden Lever
During our Growth Stage Program in Cairo this past June, ten distinct levers of scale were explored with the participating founders. Gisele El Far, an intern at the MIT Kuo Sharper Center who documented the sessions, noticed a powerful thread connecting every insight: trust. From keeping systems ...
Africa's Ambitious Machines: Unseen, Undervalued, Undeniable
Are we asking the wrong questions about AI readiness? Osman Siddiqi illustrates how practical, locally built AI across Africa is already redefining the technological frontier in growth markets. Is the global debate on AI readiness asking the wrong questions about growth markets? Osman Siddiqi explor...
Rewiring Prosperity: How Corporations and Entrepreneurs can Rewrite the Calculus of Economic Growth
Andrea Kates, our Entrepreneur-in-Residence, explores how strategic alignment between corporate scale and entrepreneurial agility unlocks new models of shared value across growth markets. Drawing on insights from our recent annual conference, the article challenges legacy, extractive approaches by r...
When Growth ≠ Prosperity: A New Calculus for Growth Markets
What happens when economies grow, but people still struggle to prosper? In this reflection emerging from the 2026 MIT Kuo Sharper Center Conference, Shamil Ibragimov explores why traditional models of economic growth are no longer enough and why a new, more inclusive calculus for prosperity must be...
Growth markets are node-scarce, not idea-scarce
For years, physicists tried to answer a deceptively simple question: why do some things like cities, ideas, innovation ecosystems grow disproportionately larger and more influential than others? Why do a few nodes attract attention, resources, and talent, while most remain peripheral?
Inside Ghana’s SME Economy:
After establishing a strong foothold in Uganda and Zambia through the Shona Capital platform, Kuo Sharper Initiative (KSI), a U.S.-based impact investment fund, is now actively exploring entry into the Ghanaian market. In October 2025 I made an on-the-ground fact-finding mission that evaluated regul...
Africa Is Not Ready for the AI Era – And Few Are Willing to Say It
At a Glance: Is Africa ready for the AI era? This article argues that current optimism is dangerous if it masks our structural reality. While the world’s superpowers treat AI as a matter of national security and industrial policy, many African nations are still treating it as a side project.
Unlocking Triple Impact: A Local Currency Solution to FX Volatility in African Education Finance
Across Africa, currency volatility remains one of the most significant barriers to delivering truly mission-aligned capital. Despite decades of effort from policymakers, DFIs, and investors, the capital that flows into education and other high-impact sectors is still overwhelmingly dollar-denominate...
The Master Corporate Connector: A New Win-Win-Win Model for Growth Markets
Most companies enter new markets with a simple plan: launch products, outpace the competition, acquire innovative technologies. They deliver profits, but miss the real goldmine. The most powerful, sustainable strategy is to create shared prosperity, where the company wins while also enabling local b...
Other Sources on Entrepreneurship
Botswana hosts first-ever MIT Kuo Sharper Center early-stage program demo day
A pivotal step in Botswana’s journey toward a knowledge-based economy—advancing the country’s national vision of economic diversification, innovation, and inclusive prosperity.
How growth markets are redefining the global economy
For decades, development has been measured almost exclusively with GDP and other macroeconomic indicators which has left critical gaps with little emphasis on equity or sustainability.
MIT Taught Me the Human Side of Entrepreneurship
Fellows at the MIT Kuo Sharper Center for Prosperity and Entrepreneurship dream big while staying true to themselves
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.