PART II
COUNTRY PROFILES
II. Methodology and Approach Quantitative estimations about the social enterprise space are challenging. The lack of a widely agreed upon definition for “social enterprise” as well as the lack of robust data are obstacles that hinder the faster development of research-based insights and recommendations. Based on a screening of applied definitions of social enterprise, this study is based on an understanding of social enterprise as defined by the following core elements:
1) the generation of revenues through the sale of products or services, 2) a high degree of social innovation, 3) the dominance of the social mission over profit generation, 4) an organizational structure and governance that reflects the superiority of social objectives, e.g. in the form of principles of participation or employee ownership and the reinvestment of the largest share of financial surpluses in the further pursuit of the social mission.
Regarding the quantification of the job creation potential of social enterprises, the authors developed a theoretical model based on proxy data about the 12 focus countries. In particular, the number of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was identified as an important proxy to estimate the number of social enterprises. A social enterprise prevalence rate for each country was calculated by considering the strength of social enterprise ecosystems as an influential factor regarding the emergence and survival of social enterprises. Furthermore, the expected number of jobs that social enterprises will provide until 2030 have been estimated based on historical data about job growth in the focus countries. It has to be noted that these estimations have been made in a rather conservative way. This means that the numbers provided in this report refer to the minimum job creation potential of social enterprises and may be overperformed depending on the scope and intensity of implemented interventions. More detailed information about the methodology to develop the country profiles can be found in the main document of the study “Social Enterprises as Job Creators in Africa”.
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