Entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa

44 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa report new business density data. Cabo Verde leads the region at 21.76 new businesses per 1,000 adults, and the regional median is 1.04. Here is the full ranking.

#	Country	New business density
1	Cabo Verde	21.76
2	Mauritius	13.98
3	Botswana	13.33
4	South Africa	11.46
5	Cote d'Ivoire	8.28
6	Namibia	6.74
7	Eswatini	4.39
8	Seychelles	4.26
9	Zimbabwe	2.77
10	Rwanda	2.72
11	Sao Tome and Principe	2.19
12	Kenya	1.73
13	Gabon	1.57
14	Angola	1.55
15	Zambia	1.50
16	Lesotho	1.47
17	Gambia, The	1.40
18	Ghana	1.37
19	Senegal	1.22
20	Nigeria	1.12
21	Uganda	1.08
22	Togo	1.04
23	Burundi	0.98
24	Mauritania	0.83
25	Burkina Faso	0.77
26	Comoros	0.76
27	Sierra Leone	0.73
28	Benin	0.69
29	Guinea	0.69
30	Ethiopia	0.61
31	Guinea-Bissau	0.47
32	Congo, Rep.	0.40
33	South Sudan	0.30
34	Mali	0.25
35	Mozambique	0.25
36	Tanzania	0.17
37	Chad	0.13
38	Madagascar	0.12
39	Congo, Dem. Rep.	0.11
40	Niger	0.10
41	Central African Republic	0.10
42	Malawi	0.09
43	Liberia	0.05
44	Somalia, Fed. Rep.	0.02

Ranked by new business density, the most recent year each country reports. Updated 01 July 2026.