Navigating the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: A Policy Diagnostics Framework for Burundi (2020–2026)

Post-conflict economies require targeted policy to stimulate entrepreneurship, yet diagnostic tools for assessing the entrepreneurial ecosystem in such contexts are underdeveloped. Burundi's business environment faces systemic challenges, including limited access to finance, regulatory burdens, and skill shortages, which constrain sustainable enterprise development. This article develops and applies a novel policy diagnostics framework to holistically evaluate the entrepreneurial ecosystem. It aims to identify the most critical binding constraints and leverage points for policy intervention within the nation's specific socio-economic context. The analysis employs a mixed-methods approach, integrating secondary data analysis from international indices with primary data from semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs, policymakers, and support organisation representatives. A systems thinking lens is used to map interconnections between ecosystem components. The diagnostics reveal that access to early-stage risk capital is the most severe constraint, with over 80% of interviewed entrepreneurs citing it as a primary barrier. Regulatory complexity and inconsistent enforcement were identified as secondary, yet deeply entrenched, impediments. A critical theme was the misalignment between formal training programmes and the practical skills needed for business survival. The entrepreneurial ecosystem is fragmented, with policy efforts often addressing symptoms rather than systemic root causes. Effective intervention requires coordinated, multi-stakeholder action targeting the capital gap and regulatory environment simultaneously. Policymakers should establish a dedicated public-private seed funding facility and initiate a regulatory simplification pilot for specific high-potential sectors. Furthermore, a skills audit should inform the redesign of entrepreneurship curricula to focus on practical financial literacy and adaptive management. entrepreneurial ecosystem, policy diagnostics, business environment, post-conflict economy, access to finance, regulatory reform This article provides a novel, context-sensitive framework for policy analysis in fragile economies and delivers the first integrated assessment of Burundi's entrepreneurial ecosystem, identifying access to risk capital as the paramount constraint.