Challenge statement
Challenge type: If you are working on multiple challenges, please indicate if this is your "big bet" or "exploratory" challenge.
Please note: we ask you to only submit a maximum of 3 challenges - 1x Big Bet, 2x Exploratory. Each challenge must be submitted individually.
EXPLORATORY
Challenge statement: What is your challenge? (Please answer in specific terms: "Our challenge is that...”.)
Our challenge is that there is a rotating door around micro and small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) support programs in Trinidad and Tobago, indicating that new enterprises encounter difficulties in securing sustainable financing and other support which hinders their rapid growth, sustainability and export-readiness.
Background: What is the history of your challenge? What is causing or driving it? Who is involved? How does the current situation look like? What undesired effects does it produce?
In Trinidad and Tobago, numerous business incubators and accelerators have emerged with the aim of equipping entrepreneurs with the necessary training, tools, knowledge, and networks to expand their ventures. These include the National Integrated Business System (IBIS), the Ideas to Innovation competition (i2i), Shaping the Future Innovation Challenge competition, the UNDP four innovation challenges (from 2021-2024), the Global Environmental Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF SGP), the DIA Youth Innovators Lab, the Full Circle Pitch circular economy competition, among others, arising from government ministries, universities and development partners. Despite these efforts, the entrepreneurial landscape continues to be fragmented, particularly in areas such as access to capital, fundraising, mentorship, and R&D research.
The alignment of interests and collaboration among public, private, and academic players has seen some improvement, yet there is still much to do. The data available on the state of entrepreneurship is limited, but insights gleaned from articles, reports, and direct feedback from entrepreneurs consistently highlight challenges related to achieving product-market fit and scaling.
This narrative underscores the historical context of the challenge, the driving forces behind it, the key players involved, the current state of affairs, and the desired outcomes for a more cohesive and supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem. The ultimate goal is to bridge the gaps and create a more integrated and effective environment for entrepreneurial success.
The UNDP Accelerator Lab was approached for assistance with this challenge by ScaleUp TT, a partner of the state-run Unit Trust Corporation (UTC), an investment company managing USD 3.2 billion.
Quantitative evidence: What (official) data sources do you have on this challenge that better exemplifies the importance and urgency of this frontier challenge? You can add text, a link, or a picture.
According to the Central Statistical Office, Trinidad and Tobago is home to 26,000 registered businesses, 90% of which are classified as SMEs. These businesses have had opportunities to access both tangible and intangible resources, allocated across a variety of programs such as the EU-ACP, Idea 2 Innovation (i2i), ScaleUP Trinidad and Tobago (ScaleUP TT), and UNDP Challenges (including the Green Innovation Challenge, Tobago Innovation Challenge, and Peace Innovation Challenge, Sargassum Innovation Challenge and Plastic Challenge). For the UNDP and its partners alone, this amounts to close to USD500K over the last 4 years, and significantly more from state actors and international donors over the same period.
However, despite these opportunities, the nation has been grappling with a rising unemployment rate, which stood at 5.4% as of March 2024. This presents a unique opportunity for entrepreneurship, a proven catalyst for economic growth, as the key to reversing this trend. By going beyond fostering entrepreneurship, but developing an entrepreneurial ecosystem map. A healthy entrepreneurial sector is a sign of a healthy and innovative economy and society. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that self-employment took a significant hit during the pandemic falling from 25.6 per cent of the population in 2020 to 24.5 per cent in 2022, stemming an upward trend since at least 2012. Entrepreneurial strength also supports innovativeness. With an innovation score of 18.5 (where higher scores signify more innovativeness) Trinidad and Tobago is not recognized as a particularly innovative nation. It ranks number 51 in its income group and 17th in the Latin America and Caribbean region (World Intellectual Property Organzation (Global Innovation Index 2024, WIPO).
Picture below: Ms. Bernadette Fonrose from Women in Fishing, South Trinidad, showing off her business awards.
Qualitative evidence: What weak signals have you recently spotted that characterizes its urgency? Please provide qualitative information that better exemplifies the importance and urgency of this frontier challenge. You can add text, a link, or a picture.
Among the items of qualitative evidence, there is the observation of organizers of business and innovation competitions that there is a high incidence of repeat participants, inclusive of involvement in business incubators and accelerators. Additionally, many have also wondered why they are not seeing many new applicants, participants or winners in these various programs. Many commented that the current programs seem to overlap and are not coordinated to ensure that one builds upon the other. Finally, the overall sentiment is that more needs to be done to create a vibrant ecosystem that supports companies across the entire entrepreneurship spectrum that allows them to grow from one stage to the next.
Eastern Credit Union, one of the grassroots finance institutions that supports entrepreneurship in Trinidad and Tobago.
Value proposition: What added value or unique value proposition is your Accelerator Lab bringing to solving this challenge? Why is it your Lab that needs to work on this challenge and not other actors within UNDP, other stakeholders in the country respectively? Why is it worth investing resources to this challenge?
The Accelerator Lab was approached by ScaleUp TT for its support in design thinking and its access to the global network where ecosystem development has been investigated in various countries and different contexts.
Short “tweet” summary: We would like to tweet what you are working on, can you summarize your challenge in a maximum of 280 characters?
UNDPTT is partnering with ScaleUp TT and other key institutions to design innovative, sustainable solutions to support small-scale entrepreneurs in 🇹🇹. Together, we’re building a future where local businesses thrive. 🌱 #Entrepreneurship
Learning questions
Learning question: What is your learning question for this challenge? What do you need to know or understand to work on your challenge statement?
How can digital tools and AI enhance the national infrastructure that supports entrepreneurship in Trinidad and Tobago? Is there room for such digital tools in the local and Caribbean contexts?
To what stage(s) in the learning cycle does your learning question relate?
Explore
Usage of methods: Relating to your choice above, how will you use your methods & tools for this learning question? What value do these add in answering your learning question?
We have programmed a series of meetings with stakeholders (conventional and unconventional) to brainstorm approaches to supporting entrepreneurship, including the use of digital tools and AI.
Existing data gaps: Relating to your choice above, what existing gaps in data or information do these new sources of data addressing? What value do these add in answering your learning question?
To date, in the Trinidad and Tobago context, there has been no research into the revolving door of entrepreneurial support system or into the potential use of digital/AI tools to improve start-up support and function.
1No poverty
8Decent work and economic growth
9Industry, innovation and infrastructure
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