The South African start-up sector has experienced significant growth over the past decade. However, the growth of start-ups in South Africa is still far from its potential. Growth elsewhere in Africa has, in recent years, been far more rapid. Once the leading country in Africa for investment in start-ups, South Africa has been overtaken by Nigeria while other African countries, such as Egypt and Kenya, have been growing more rapidly than South Africa.
This policy brief identifies the key constraints that currently curtail the rate of growth of the South African start-up sector, and outlines the measures that could address these constraints. It follows a November 2023 TIPS workshop, Growing the Start-Up Economy: Accelerating Local and Foreign Investment. Inter alia, the policy brief draws on the presentations and discussion at the workshop.