45. World Economic Forum (2024). The state of social enterprise: A review of global data 2013–2023. https://www3.weforum. org/docs/WEF_The_State_of_Social_Enterprise_2024.pdf 46. Cruz, M., Moelders, F., Salgado, E., & Volk, A. (2025). Estimating the number of firms in Africa. World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/ad2895d4-8426-4d09-b092-5f82c82a8684/content 47. IFC (2018). IFC SME ventures: Investing in private equity in sub-Saharan African fragile and conflict-affected situations. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/648931548940086239/pdf/134220-WP-IFC-SME-Ventures-Main-report- PUBLIC.pdf 48. This is possibly due to the fact that not all SEs are making a profit or generating a surplus yet. The survey did not test for whether or not SEs are generating a profit; however, based on the data on average revenue generation, this is plausible. Note that reinvestment was not an exclusionary criteria for the survey analysis. 49. World Economic Forum (2024). The state of social enterprise: A review of global data 2013–2023. https://www3.weforum. org/docs/WEF_The_State_of_Social_Enterprise_2024.pdf 50. Okebiorun, O. (2025). Comparing IMF GDP projections for Africa’s top 10 economies, 2023 vs. 2025: Key gainers and losers. Business Insider Africa https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/markets/africas-gdp-is-projected-to-increase-from- dollar23-trillion-in-2023-to-dollar28/9w859wq 51. Zlto. (n.d.). Our story. Retrieved October 16, 2025, from https://www.zlto.co/ 52. Lower value (12 million) is estimated using the median of the distribution, and higher value (56 million) is estimated using the mean of the distribution. In computing the mean value, outliers were excluded. 53. British Council. (2020). Social enterprise and job creation in sub-Saharan Africa. https://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/ default/files/social_enterprise_and_job_creation_in_sub-saharan_africa_final_singlepages.pdf 54. GeoPoll. (2024). Africa MSME pulse 2024 report. https://www.geopoll.com/blog/africa-msme-pulse-2024/ 55. World Economic Forum (2024). The state of social enterprise: A review of global data 2013–2023. https://www3.weforum. org/docs/WEF_The_State_of_Social_Enterprise_2024.pdf 56. The World Bank. (n.d.). World Bank enterprise surveys. Retrieved October 8, 2025, from http://www.enterprisesurveys.org 57. Disrupt Africa. (2025). The African tech startups funding report 2024. https://disruptafrica.com/wp-content/ uploads/2025/03/The-African-Tech-Startups-Funding-Report-2024.pdf 58. Public Investment Corporation (2023). Landscape of women-owned and managed businesses in South Africa. Prepared by Research & Innovation, ESG divisions. https://www.pic.gov.za/DocPresentations/Landscape%20of%20 women-owned%20and%20managed%20businesses%20in%20South%20Africa.pdf 59. Mastercard. (2022). The Mastercard index of women entrepreneurs: How targeted support for women-led business can unlock sustainable economic growth. https://www.mastercard.com/news/media/phwevxcc/the-mastercard-index-of- women-entrepreneurs.pdf 60. The World Bank. (n.d.) Enterprise Surveys. Retrieved October 8, 2025, from http://www.enterprisesurveys.org 61. Mastercard. (2022, March). The Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs: How targeted support for women-led business can unlock sustainable economic growth. https://www.mastercard.com/news/media/phwevxcc/the-mastercard-index-of- women-entrepreneurs.pdf 62. International Trade Centre (2018). Promoting SME competitiveness in Africa: Data for de-risking investment. https://www.rfilc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/africa_sme_competitiveness.pdf 63. Schwab Foundation, Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship and Deloitte. (2024, January). The corporate social innovation compass: Accelerating impact through social enterprise partnerships. World Economic Forum. https://www3. weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Corporate_Social_Innovation_Compass_2024.pdf; Yunus Social Business. (2022, May 1). The social procurement manual: A practical guide to learning how to integrate social businesses into corporate supply chains. https://www.yunussb.com/articles/social-procurement-manual 64. The World Bank. (2024). Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP) – sub-Saharan Africa. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS?locations=ZG 65. African Development Bank. (2018, November 9). Africa agribusiness, a US$1 trillion business by 2030. https://www.afdb.org/en/news-and-events/africa-agribusiness-a-us-1-trillion-business-by-2030-18678 66. World Economic Forum. (2019, May 22). This is the key to boosting economic growth in Africa. https://www.weforum.org/ stories/2019/05/investing-in-africans-health/ 67. Quaye, J. N. A., Halsall, J. P ., Winful, E. C., Snowden, M., Opuni, F. F., Hyams-Ssekasi, D., Ohene Afriyie, E., Opoku- Asante, K., Ocloo, E. C., & Fairhurst, B. (2024). Social enterprises and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): A means to an end. Environment, Development and Sustainability. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s10668-024-05359-x 68. World Bank Enterprise Surveys. (n.d.). Topics – Formal sector enterprises surveys: biggest obstacle. Retrieved October 8, 2025, from https://www.enterprisesurveys.org/en/data/exploretopics/biggest-obstacle?subGroup=-1&subtopic=85 69. OECD. (2023). Buying social with the social economy. https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/ reports/2023/11/buying-social-with-the-social-economy_59f6d15e/c24fccd0-en.pdf 70. Ibid. The State of Social Enterprise: Unlocking Inclusive Growth, Jobs and Development in Africa 61

State of Social Enterprise Africa 2025