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Education

Legatum Center for Development & Entrepreneurship, MIT

Program:
Youth Learning
Purpose:

Identify and provide fellowships for entrepreneurs from developing countries to promote a model of entrepreneurship-led development

Amount:
$20.9 million
Term:
Ten years
Start date:
May 2011
Location:
Global

Why We Partnered

The Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship marshals The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s 150-year tradition of entrepreneurship and innovation for deployment in developing countries. It was founded in 2007 on the belief that economic progress and good governance in developing countries emerge from entrepreneurship and innovations that empower ordinary citizens. The Center runs a fellowship for graduate students who will launch businesses in developing countries.

This program builds upon the Legatum Center’s reputation and experience in innovative entrepreneurship. It will strengthen its capacity to extend opportunities and participation for innovations in Sub-Saharan Africa by providing up to 200 fellowships to students from Africa and other developing regions. It will produce case studies about successful business models aimed at generating jobs, improving productivity, and stimulating business growth. The Center will also work with universities in other countries to host a global competition that recognizes innovations that generate employment and economic opportunities, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Anticipated Impact

  • Provide fellowships to promising students from Africa and other developing regions.
  • Support the creation of businesses led by fellows and alumni.
  • Catalyze innovations that generate employment for youth and extend financial services.
  • Build a knowledge base of business models that effectively meet needs of the poor.

Where We Are Now

  • 18 MasterCard Foundation Fellows currently receive financial and mentorship support from the Center. 
  • Feedback from the previous class of Fellows finds that 64 percent met with their mentors at least monthly. Fellows rated the value of the mentor relationships with an eight out of a possible 10. An impressive 50 percent of the Fellows received industry recognition or awards. All respondents already have or will launch their businesses.
  • Seven Fellows were awarded grants to conduct market research for their ventures in country. Examples of ventures include AgroWater (Kenya) and Bluelight (Jordan). AgroWater is commercializing a novel organic polymer that protects smallholder farmers’ crops against drought and acts as a fertilizer replacement. Bluelight provides a save-to-buy platform for lower income families to save toward the purchases they need in exactly the same way they top up their mobile devices. Bluelight won the $50,000 grand prize in social enterprise at Harvard Business School’s New Ventures competition in 2013.
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