Global development agenda meets local opportunities: The rise of development-focused entrepreneurship support

Emerging economies provide abundant opportunities for entrepreneurship with social impact, but they often lack the resources to support it. This dilemma has led to the emergence of “development-focused entrepreneurship support” (DFES), which is typically provided by development organizations in the Global North, and which targets impact-oriented entrepreneurs operating in the Global South. This study examines, based on rich qualitative data from the U.S., Rwanda and Uganda, how international DFES organizations (iDFESOs) support entrepreneurs. We show that iDFESOs link entrepreneurship support to development goals, and thereby make entrepreneurs part of development aid chains. Towards this end, iDFESOs build three interrelated support infrastructures – or “scaffolds”: individual resource channels, local ecosystem capacity, and transnational infrastructures. Findings have important implications for entrepreneurship and international development research, while also raising critical questions about new dependencies between Global North and Global South. •Emerging economies provide abundant opportunities for entrepreneurship but lack the resources to support it.•Development-focused entrepreneurship support (DFES) targets impact-oriented emerging economy entrepreneurs.•DFES links entrepreneurship support with development aid, and embeds entrepreneurs in global aid chains.•International DFES organizations (iDFESOs) serve as intermediaries in building DFES support infrastructures.•DFES infrastructures include individual resource channels, local networks, global events and digital platforms.