Ecosystem emergence in emerging markets: Evidence from the Nigerian digital financial services ecosystem

Abstract

Ecosystem emergence has gained the attention of multiple researchers, governments and development experts as a route to establishing linkages between institutions and industries aimed, ultimately, at value creation for the end customer. Ecosystems have been instrumental in the progress of various industries where it would be otherwise difficult for a single organisation to develop. Using the case of the Nigerian digital financial ecosystem, which comprises about forty-three organisations, this study traces and explores the stages of ecosystem emergence: initiation, envisioning, enacting, momentum, control/optimisation and enlivening. The results show that the Nigerian digital financial services (DFS) ecosystem emerged from the need to leverage strategic partnerships across several industries for efficient value creation and delivery. The emergence of the DFS ecosystem, though organic, evolved without any form of design intentionality by the operators and regulators, as most relationships and interactions were loosely coupled. The study highlights the need for ecosystem actors such as governments and regulators to provide more clarity on incentives and ecosystem rules in order to overcome the limitations imposed by system-level and institutional barriers that constrain its legitimacy and growth and the launch of new initiatives.