This document summarizes a presentation given by Dr. C. Sara Minard on valuing entrepreneurship in the informal economy of West Africa. The presentation compares theories of entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship to practices in the region. It discusses research questions around how informal entrepreneurs create social value while expanding business models. Case studies from Senegal show how social networks like Mouridism provide resources and opportunities for entrepreneurs. The presentation recommends taking a human-centered design approach and clarifying assumptions based on local contexts to better understand social entrepreneurship in developing areas.

1. VALUING ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE
INFORMAL ECONOMY IN WEST AFRICA:
A comparative analysis on the theory and praxis of
entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship
C. Sara Minard, PhD.
Northeastern University, Social Enterprise Institute
University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Social Entrepreneurship Day
November 17, 2015

2. OUTLINE
1. Observations
2. Research Questions
3. Understanding Social Entrepreneurship
4. Methodology
5. Data Collection
6. Data Analysis
7. Implications
8. Applications
9. Further Research

3. INTRODUCTION
Ò “It makes no difference whether Africa has everything or nothing –
either its powers are too great, or its problems too overwhelming to
engage. Often, what gets ignored are the means by which Africans
have learned to compensate for the impossibility of their everyday
lives. Despite inadequacies, many African societies improvise with
whatever is at hand, and in so doing, often avoid disaster. But
Africa’s postcolonial hybrid methods are consistently dismissed. They
are seen as either symptomatic of the continent’s loss of tradition or
as a collection of death-rattle, knee-jerk reactions…[the question is]
how can Africa’s circumstances inform and broaden Western
postmodern languages, just as how can the West apply itself more
constructively for Africans?”
-David Hecht and MaliqalimSimone (1999)

4. CRITICAL OBSERVATIONS
Ò The push for impact measurement which
champions market-based solutions has masked
the messy political struggles inherent in
institutional, social change (accounting logics)
Ò Social entrepreneurship/social enterprise
models presume market-based solutions
despite evidence of weak markets and
government (overreliance)
Ò Entrepreneurship (self-reliance) has become a
proxy for uncertainty (growth)

5. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Ò Competing theories of social entrepreneurship with a
focus on capabilities (capacity to entreprendre) and
social value creation (well-being) and innovation (new
ways of solving problems)
Ò Literature on comparative processes of social change,
the Polanyian world of embeddedness
Ò Looking at broader domain of informal economic
activity and how informal micro-entrepreneurial
methods are both efficient and productive and
differences betweenwomen and men

6. THEORY
“Math doesn’t tell us how to treat each other, neither does physics
or economics” (Steven Hawking)
Ò Other-regarding behavior (Smith, Theory of Moral
Sentiments)
Ò Embeddedness (Polanyi)
Ò Social capital (Coleman, Putnam, Lin)
Ò Capabilities (Sen)
Ò Economy of regard (Offer)
Ò Linkage effects (Hirschman)
Ò Behavioral/Relational economics (Kahneman; Gintis &
Bowles; Woolcock & Nayaran)
Ò Social entrepreneurship and social enterprise (Dees,
Santos, Christensen & Mair, Peredo,Nicholls, Nyssens)
Ò Ecosystem analysis (Wilson; Capra; Bloom & Dees)

7. FALSE DICHOTOMIES?
Ò Social value and individual value/profitability
Ò Formal and informal sector
Ò Market milieu and social milieu
Ò Competition and cooperation
Ò Self-regarding interest and other-regarding interest
Ò Growth and sustainability
Ò Adaptation and Innovation
Ò Impact and profit

8. MAIN ARGUMENTS
Ò Development Assistance, in trying to speed up the modernization
process, is forced to deal with the inconvenient policy consequences
[of modernization theory] that the world is not all headed towards to
same trajectory; e.g. neo-liberal principles have been absorbed in
Northern private sector (SME) development policies in LDCs and
focus is on formalizing informality.
Ò Informal economy cannot be relegated to a survival economy
(Banerjee and Duflo); it’s a force for social change as: 1) a
marketplace for social innovation and 2) a motor for efficient and
productive economic development challenging artificial barriers
between formal and informal, between business and social sector.
Ò Senegal’s informal entrepreneurs provide the“interior dynamism” of
the region by transforming economic opportunities and innovating in
ways that bridge market competition and social solidarity models.
Ò Understanding this can inform and broaden Western theories and
discourse on social entrepreneurship.

9. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Ò In the absence of formal market institutions or
governance structures, how do informal entrepreneurs
create social value in communities that sustain their
embeddedness while also expanding their business
models, and thus manage hybridity?
Ò How to think about scaling social impact and yet stay
connected to local realities when organizational
ambition is required?
Ò When we discuss social entrepreneurs as change
agents, which of the theoretical frameworks, models
and assumptions in economic and social theory are not
applicable to the Senegalese context? Why not and why
can we say about the specificity of the Senegalese
case?

10. A BIG QUESTION
Can one be a very active participant in a capitalist
society and still be an ethical person? What
evidence is there from collectivist societies that
social entrepreneurship provides a real pathway
to reconcile growth and social value?

11. SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Ò People of all walks of life are applying their
creativity and entrepreneurial talents to mobilizing
resources, identifying opportunities and crafting
innovation solutions to social problems. - Greg Dees
Ò By increasing their impact, they create new
incentives to encourage the development of
decentralized decision-making processes that will
allow societies to maximize the efforts required to
explore alternative ways of [delivering public
value]. - Douglass North, Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance

12. WHY NOT JUST ENTREPRENEURSHIP?
Ò Deliberate set of actions to achieve social outcomes
(exclude positive externalities);social risk in a combined
return framework (Laing 2012)
Ò Redefining the core assumptions of our economic and
financial systems; “I am the market” and I determine
suitable return on investment. Commercial Entrepreneurs
do not have impact focus so higher opportunity costs
Ò Limitations to neo-classical firm theory and state-market
relationship; getting back pre-capitalist value(s) by
affecting prices more directly to make capitalism work
Ò Employment as dignity for the most vulnerable populations
Ò Incentives matter for social innovation and cooperation;
not just exploiting opportunities but incitingcooperation
Ò Ecosystem approach; building an enabling environment for
public value creation (Bloom and Dees 2009)

13. STARTING POINTS
TRANS-DISCIPLINARY BY DEFINITION
› Smith (1759), Schumpeter
(1940), Polanyi (1957),
Drayton (1998)
› Drucker (1960), Dees
(2000;2001;2003),Offer
(2009); Santos(2012)
› Sen (1999’ 2001),
Hirschman (1958;1982)
Entrepreneurship, Social
and Development Theory
In History, Research and
Practice
o Learning from cooperative,
self-help movements about
mobilizing resources, collective
action
o Gift economy, social solidarity
economy, informal markets
o Community-led enterprise and
microfinance
o Design thinking as
complimentaryto development
practice

14. ANOTHER BIG QUESTION
How (and why) do social entrepreneurs facilitate
access to markets (material goods) and to public
goods (healthcare) outside of formal market
structures and employment, and for people they don’t
know?

15. INSTITUTO PALMAS
¡ 1997: Joaquim deMelo established Banco Palmas, Brazil’s first
Community Development Bank
¡ Local spending has increased from 20% to 85% since Banco
Palmas was established; Palmas recognized as legitimate
currency by Brazilian government
¡ Expanded to InstitutoPalmasin 2003 and PalmasLab in 2012
to harness technology for the community
¡ IP’s banking model been replicated all over Brazil – currently
over 100 community development banks

16. TOSTAN
Ò 1991: Molly Melching, educator, devised
the Community Empowerment Program
(CEP) to bring literacy to villagers in
Senegal, West Africa
Ò Using human rights, dialogue-based
learning to advance non-formal adult
education; focus on women and girls
(FGC); expanded to 5 countries
Ò Organized diffusion = premise for scale
is participation and shared learning
Ò Responsive listening = organic growth of
program
Ò Holistic and integrated, inclusive of
networks
Ò Funding is “pooled” for longer-term,
integrated work
www.tostan.org

17. VISIONSPRING
Ò 2001: Jordan Kassalow and Scott Berrie
as a US non-profit to provide ready-made
reading glasses to correct far-sightedness
Ò Mission to correct near vision and in turn
improveworking conditions of the world’s
poorest who rely on eyesight for income
Ò Franchise model: Partnered with BRAC
to train Vision Entrepreneurs: employ
local women to give eye exams and sell
glasses, $2/pair
Ò “Hub and Spoke” model: large pharmacy
chains in India.
Ò Focus on quality, affordability and accessibility
Ò 2012: I million eyeglasses sold, 18% total costs recovered
Ò Longer view, 2 million sold, 100% earned revenue coverage
www.visionspring.org

18. SENEGAL CASE STUDY

19. HISTORICAL CONTEXT – SENEGAL
Ò Post-independence(1960) state and market formation
Ò Historical determinants of growth and development à
evidence of path dependency with impact of colonial
public investments in infrastructure, health, education;
role of colonial administrators (Huillery 2008)
Ò Democratic and peaceful, 98% Muslim
Ò Dominant languages: Wolof and French (national)
Ò Two Muslim Brotherhoods: Tijane and Mourid
É Largest is the Mourid, “Baol-Baol” movement as a
communication method and social more, facilitates trust
and information sharing in broad social network with a
global reach (Cruise O’Brien et al.)

20. TODAY’S CONTEXT: SENEGAL
Ò West Africa is the fastest growing regional population in the
world
É 380 million (2010) to 750 million (2030)
Ò Majority urban
É 3 out of every 4 persons will live in a city by 2030
Ò Poor and vulnerable population…with strong vibrant informal
economy, majority women
É Income per capita per annum is approx, $650; Large influx of Diaspora
funds used for consumption not investment (approx. 150% more than
foreign aid)
É ~75% urban households have informal workers, of which ~60% under
30 years old, 40-60% women;
É Informality provides 43% of regional GDP (non-agriculture);
É Represents a new class of informal-to-formal entrepreneurs, so no clear
statistical distinction can be made

21. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
Social capital
(capacity)
Human capital
(capacity)
Routine
opportunity
identification
Attainment
Use of Contact
H1
H2
H3
H4

22. Social Entrepreneurship Framework using a Capability Approach
Informal
Entrepreneurship
:
Autonomy and
Embeddedness
Social and
Political Economy
Context
Means for Mobilizing
Resources; Defining Value;
Identifying Opportunity and
Risk; Being Innovative and
Adaptative
Enabling Environment and
Opportunity Structures in the
Social Enterprise Space
Capability to
Achieve Social
Impact
Available
Strategies

23. DATA COLLECTION
Mourid
Female FemaleMaleMale FemaleMaleFemale
Formal entrepreneurs
Male
Informal entrepreneurs
Tijane TijaneMourid

24. DATA COLLECTION AND MEASUREMENT ISSUES
Ò Qualitative
É In-depth interviews (30)
É Case studies (8)
É Focus groups (working with local NGO Tostan)
É Local competitivenessand capacity-to-act mapping
(CTA)
Ò Quantitative
É Two national employer’s organizations’ data
É Survey data on informal entrepreneurship (n=300)

25. RESULTS
Ò Social entrepreneurs are not necessarily the brilliant few but
the front line of the team
Ò Linking social capital is stronger among men
Ò Women’s bonding social capital support entrepreneurship
Ò There is a complimentarity and inter-dependence between
informal and formal entrepreneurs, between urban and rural
Ò Mouridism as a movement (Baol Baol) helps launch
entrepreneurs in similar types of businesses and provides
social, financial and institutional capital and social
protections
Ò Women (both Mourid and non-Mourid) develop parallel
informal business networks alongside the Mourid network
(which tends to favor men’s relationships in the longer term)

27. COMMON CORE CHARACTERISTICS
Ò Reflect on Purpose within Context
Ò Focus on Strengths and Local Assets
Ò Adopt Critical Inquiry-based Learning with User at
the Center
Ò Nurture Deep Empathy linked to Employment
Ò Develop a ‘Maker’ Model
Ò Adaptive Efficiency
Ò Transformative Action
Ò Mutual Accountability

28. INSTITUTIONAL APPLICATIONS: ADAPTIVE EFFICIENCY
Ò Building on Douglass North’s concept of
adaptive efficiency which concerns a society’s
dynamic ability to solve problems over time.
Ò “Creating effective solutions is not simply
sorting out what works from what does not
work, and then scaling up what works. It is a
matter of understanding what works under
which circumstances and for whom.”
× J. Greg Dees, “Toward an Open-Solution Society”, 10th
AnniversaryEdition, SSIR, Spring 2013

29. PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH
Ò Engage Market and Non-Market Stakeholders
É Systems design-thinking and dynamic mapping
Ò Assess Government Capacity for Action
É Case studies, interviews, surveys
Ò Map Social Market Infrastructure and Capacity
É Visioning, social network analysis, surveys
Ò Equip Organizations and Enterprises for Growth
É Collision workshops and knowledge partnerships
Ò Define Mobilization Strategies to Direct Social Finance for
Development
É Integrated dashboards

30. RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR RESEARCH & DISCUSSION
Ò Clarifyassumptions & objectives rooted in local definitions –
weave historical context, social values around work and
efficiency and social economy into the research design
É Ask the question: how does your view of the “good life” affect
what you make?
Ò Follow a Human Centered Co-Design process to identify how
social entrepreneurs navigatecomplex development
problems
Ò Pull inspiration from local cases, market research & regularly
carry out new research to understand new trends in social
entrepreneurship and innovation from the South
Ò Situate definitions of entrepreneurship and social
entrepreneurship where the ‘social’ is not static but locally
negotiated within existing market and institutional structures

31. THANK YOU
C.MINARD@NEU.EDU