Explaining Entrepreneurship in underdeveloped countries of The Great Lakes Region of Africa

Abstract This paper is based on the assumption that entrepreneurship contributes to the economic development of a nation. Building on the determinants of entrepreneurship proposed in the Eclectic Theory of Entrepreneurship by Verheul et al. (2002), and following the Framework of determinants of entrepreneurship by Wennekers et al. (2002), the paper tries to point out to what extent economic growth in underdeveloped countries of The Great Lakes Region of Africa can be sustained through the economic phenomenon of entrepreneurship. An attempt is specifically made to bring to light the factors that hinder or favor entrepreneurship in Burundi.