State of Social Enterprise Africa 2025

2.3 Access to support services Access to support services was a top five barrier in every focus country except Cameroon, highlighting a widespread need for mentorship, business development training and networking. Limited organizational capacity was also a concern, cited in South Africa (34%), Kenya (26%) and Ghana (21%). This shows that funding alone is insufficient, as many social enterprises need support to develop internal systems and capabilities for stability. Formal vs. informal enterprise barriers Barriers faced by social enterprises are shaped by their formal or informal status. This comparison highlights a crucial duality in the challenges faced across the ecosystem: Formal social enterprises that indicate they face challenges are disproportionately affected by institutional and human capital challenges. They are 2.6 times more likely than informal enterprises to experience barriers related to the political/regulatory environment. They are also significantly more likely to struggle with staff skills (1.88 times), limited organizational capacity (2.24 times) and public understanding/awareness (2.09 times). This suggests that the very act of formalizing exposes enterprises to a new set of complex, often bureaucratic, hurdles. Informal social enterprises that indicated they face challenges, in contrast, are more impacted by market-related challenges. They are 2.07 times more likely than their formal counterparts to experience barriers related to market competitiveness and are 1.39 times more likely to struggle with a lack of access to customers and markets. This is possibly because social enterprises often operate in sectors and regions that are underserved by traditional commercial players. While this allows them to address critical service delivery gaps, this also means they must navigate fragmented markets and reach populations at the base of the economic pyramid, who often have limited purchasing power.76 Informal enterprises are only 1.14 times more likely to face a lack of access to finance, which suggests that their financing needs may be met through a combination of informal and philanthropic sources that are less accessible to more formalized businesses.Social enterprises also face bureaucratic and institutional hurdles. Where institutions are weak or fragmented, unclear regulations, overlapping requirements and corruption may force social enterprises to divert scarce resources away from activities that can achieve further impact. Additionally, securing multiple licences and approvals for logistics, production, aggregation or warehousing often adds significant time and cost burdens. In South Africa, for example, entrepreneurs report lengthy registration processes and the need to comply with requirements from multiple departments, creating operational uncertainty.75 In certain contexts, these challenges are compounded by parallel governance structures, such as chieftaincies or other traditional authorities that exercise authority independently of state agencies. Managing relationships across multiple layers of power can cause further strains on organizational capacity and resources. While the political or regulatory environment was cited as a barrier for only 24% of social enterprises, this ranged in ranking of significance between countries. This was ranked last and second last by Cameroon and Ghana respectively, indicating that this is potentially less of a concern compared to other barriers. However, this was ranked fifth and seventh (out of 11 categories) in Ethiopia and Kenya, indicating this is more of a concern in these countries. Access to support services was a top five barrier in every focus country except Cameroon, highlighting a widespread need for mentorship, business development training and networking. Credit: World Economic Forum / Michael CalabròLack of access to finance Lack of access to support services Cash flow Market competitiveness Limited public understanding/ awareness of social enterprises Lack of access to customers/markets Economic climate Limited organizational capacity Political/regulatory environment Staff skills Other52%63% 32%19% 32%14% 21%46% 29%15% 22%33% 26%17% 27%13% 22%9% 20%11% 3%5% Informal Formal 44 The State of Social Enterprise: Unlocking Inclusive Growth, Jobs and Development in Africa