Entrepreneurship for structural transformation:
Beyond business as usual
UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT
THE LEAST
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
REPORT 2018
New York and Geneva, 2018
The Least Developed Countries Report 2018
ii
2018, United Nations
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UNCTAD/LDC/2018
ISBN: 978-92-1-112930-4
eISBN: 978-92-1-047247-0
ISSN: 0257-7550
Sales No. E.18.II.D.6
iii
Entrepreneurship for structural transformation: Beyond business as usual
Acknowledgements
The Least Developed Countries Report 2018
was prepared by UNCTAD. Contributors to the report are: Rolf
Traeger (team leader), Bineswaree Bolaky, Agnès Collardeau-Angleys, Pierre Encontre, Iacopo Monterosa, Tuba
Busra zsoy, Madasamyraja Rajalingam, Matfobhi Riba, Giovanni Valensisi and Stefanie West (the report team).
The work was carried out under the overall supervision of Paul Akiwumi, Director, Division for Africa, Least
Developed Countries and Special Programmes.
A meeting was held in Geneva on 16–17 May 2018 to conduct a peer review of specifc chapters of the report
and the report as a whole. It brought together specialists in the felds of entrepreneurship, development policies,
enterprise development, international trade, social policies, industrial development and capacity-building. The
participants were: Anders Aeroe (International Trade Centre), Feial Belaid (Graduate Institute for International
and Development Studies), Vanina Farber (International Institute for Management Development), Abbi M. Kedir
(University of Sheffeld), Massimiliano Lamarca (International Labour Organization), Arthur Minsat (Development
Centre, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), Ahmad Mukhtar (Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations), Benedict Musengele (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa),
Donath Olomi (University of Dar-es-Salaam), Tapiwa Samanga (Southern African Development Community),
Raymond Saner (Centre for Socioeconomic Development), Franck van Rompaey (United Nations Industrial
Development Organization), Susanna Wolff (United Nations Offce of the High Representative for the Least
Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States), David Woodward
(independent consultant), as well as the members of the report team and the following UNCTAD colleagues: Paul
Akiwumi, Lisa Borgatti, Milasoa Cherel-Robson, Junior Roy Davis, Mussie Delelegn, Fulvia Farinelli, Stefanie Garry,
Tamara Gregol de Farias, Christopher James, Aminata Loum, Arthur Mclean, Emily Meisel, Janvier Nkurunziza,
Patrick Nwokedi Osakwe, Philippe Rudaz, Amelia Santos Paulino, Michaela Summerer, Antipas Touatam and
Anida Yupari.
Ayman Eltarabishy (International Council for Small Business), Louis Jacques Filion (HEC Montreal), Donna Kelley
(Babson College) and David Woodward (independent consultant) also provided substantive inputs and comments
on the frst draft of the report. Bruno Casella (UNCTAD) provided data on least developed country participation in
global value chains based on the UNCTAD Eora database.
Feial Belaid, John Struthers and Dina Nziku prepared background papers for the report.
The UNCTAD Intergovernmental Support Service edited the text.
Nadège Hadjemian designed the cover. Nadège Hadjemian and Sonia Blachier designed the infographics.
Madasamyraja Rajalingam did the overall layout, graphics and desktop publishing.。