Categorizing business incubators in developing countries: evidence from Cameroon, Senegal and Uganda

Even though some studies have analysed incubators in developing countries, only a few have analysed incubators in Africa. Despite incubators playing a crucial role in entrepreneurship, their role in developing economies and social aspects remains unexplored. This study explores the social engagement of fifteen incubators in Cameroon, Senegal and Uganda through an interpretive qualitative approach. Based on our analyses, we propose a new taxonomy on the social engagement of incubators in developing countries through their support on projects and people. Moreover, we explored some relationships between the proposed categorization, incubator procedures, and incubator sponsorship. Our results show that incubators that support economic development projects focus mainly on entrepreneur(s) during the screening phase. Foreign and private incubator sponsorship seems to prefer incubators that address projects with a social impact on the local, national or global context. Finally, local sponsors seem to be mainly interested in funding incubators that support disadvantaged categories.