Entrepreneurship In Sub-Saharan Africa Research Articles

Transferring paternalistic entrepreneurial leadership behaviours (PELB): Chinese organisations in sub-Saharan Africa

This article evaluates the processes of transferring managerial and leadership practices of Chinese entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). From the lens of paternalism, we investigate Chinese entrepreneurs’ behaviours towards their African employees in Kenya, Zambia, and South Africa (SA). Through 148 interviews (with 127 interviewees) from 78 organisations, we explain how the Chinese paternalistic entrepreneurial leadership behaviours (PELB) are legitimised, transformed, and resisted in African settings. Chinese leaders adopt a nurturing approach to transfer managerial and leadership behaviours within paternalistic cultures in the development of their organisations in SSA. We articulate the types of Chinese PELB that help to sustain Chinese organisational development and those that hinder this process in SSA.

Gender-based policies and women’s entrepreneurship: an fsQCA analysis of sub-Saharan African countries

PurposeEntrepreneurship policy is a vital component of any entrepreneurial ecosystem. However, the specific policy initiatives that have a greater impact on women's entrepreneurship remain unclear in many developing economies. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of entrepreneurship policies targeted at women’s entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).Design/methodology/approachEmploying fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), this paper utilises and analyses secondary data collected by the World Bank's Women, Business, and the Law (WBL) from 1970 to 2020, encompassing 48 countries within SSA.FindingsThrough our analysis, we identified two configurations that sufficiently support women's entrepreneurship. First, a combination of gender-based policies focussing on enabling “access to credit” and “signing of contracts”; and second, a blend of policies supporting “signing of contracts”, “business registration”, and “opening a bank account”, represent significant antecedents to supporting women's entrepreneurship. These distinct pathways are crucial to fostering women’s entrepreneurship in the SSA region.Research limitations/implicationsThe study's findings indicate that the impact and effectiveness of entrepreneurship policies targeted at women entrepreneurs in developing economies depend on the effectiveness of other policies that are in place.Originality/valueThis study offers new insights into the intricate interrelationship between entrepreneurship policies and women’s entrepreneurship in developing countries by considering the interdependence and combinative value of gender-based policies that effectively support women’s entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa.

Water entrepreneurship and financialisation: Complexities for the attainment of SDG in sub-Saharan Africa

This study explores the potential of water financialisation and entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to supplant the traditional responsibility of national, state, and local governments in providing public water supply, aligning with SDG Goals. Despite its typical association with the global north, a shifting landscape reveals emerging financial actors and multinational companies playing a more prominent role, prompting governance and accountability inquiries. Given the dearth of investment and persisting challenges in SSA's water infrastructure, the burgeoning involvement of financial actors and capital management entities in the water cycle seems inevitable. However, this trend raises concerns about exacerbating global water stress. Through qualitative methods, the study engaged 50 SSA participants via open-ended questionnaires, analysed using thematic analysis. The findings underscore a nuanced perspective. While acknowledging the potential of water financialisation and entrepreneurship to drive essential investment in SSA's water sector, the research emphasizes the irreplaceable role of government in policy execution and safeguarding citizens' well-being. Government intervention remains crucial to ensuring equitable water access and sustainability. Additionally, the analysis suggests that overemphasizing water financialisation could divert attention from critical infrastructural and technological advancements needed in SSA's water sector. This underscores the necessity of a balanced and comprehensive approach to address the multifaceted challenges surrounding water availability, governance, and sustainability in the region.

The Impact of Open Data Implementation on Entrepreneurship Ability in Sub-Saharan Africa

This article conducts an experimental investigation on the impact of national open data implementation (ODI) on entrepreneurship ability in sub-Saharan Africa based on epistemological predispositions. With the commitment of 150 countries and organization to open data, this study is founded on the theory of planned behavior that behavioral intention can be induced by background variable categorized as personal, social, and informational. In a bid to validate the informational impact, this study is aimed at determining how much of entrepreneurship ability (EAB) is explained by open data implementation (ODI) in sub-Saharan Africa. This study analyzes secondary data from 22 sub-Saharan African countries, using regression analysis. Result shows that open data implementation has a negative nonsignificant impact on entrepreneurship ability in the continent. It is no surprise that Open Data Barometer (ODB), which is the official open data assessing body, posits that there is need for improved open data implementation in sub-Saharan Africa for economic development purposes. Therefore, this study recommends further research on open data implementation as a national data governance initiative to identify opportunities for entrepreneurial impact in sub-Saharan Africa similar to those observed in Europe and other parts of the world. The findings have implications for policymakers and stakeholders seeking leverage to improve entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa through open data implementation.

Microfinance institutions and female entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa: avoidable female unemployment thresholds

PurposeThis study aims to contribute to the extant literature by assessing how microfinance institutions (MFIs) affect female entrepreneurship, contingent on female unemployment levels.Design/methodology/approachThe study focuses on 44 countries in sub-Saharan Africa for the period 2004–2018. The empirical evidence is based on interactive quantile regressions, which put emphasis on nations with high, low and intermediate levels of business constraints. The analysis is tailored to provide avoidable female unemployment levels in the implementation of policies designed for MFIs to promote female business ownership.FindingsThe hypotheses that MFIs are favorable for female business owners and some critical rates of female unemployment should be avoided in order for the favorable incidence to be maintained is exclusively valid in the 10th quantiles of the cost of business by females and time to start-up a business by females. Policy implications are discussed.Originality/valueThis study has complemented the extant literature by providing actionable female unemployment critical masses that governments can act upon in tailoring the relevance of MFIs in the doing of business by females.

Microfinance Institutions and Female Entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa: Avoidable Female Unemployment Thresholds

Microfinance Institutions and Female Entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa: Avoidable Female Unemployment Thresholds

International entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa: interfirm coordination and local economy dynamics in the informal economy

PurposeThe International Labor Organization (2020) estimates that eight out of ten enterprises (i.e. own-account workers and small economic units) are informal worldwide. However, less is known about the internationalization of informal enterprises. Here, it is argued that economic blocs, such as sub-Saharan Africa, with a greater proportion of informal enterprises, may provide broader societal legitimacy for them to operate internationally. Thus, informal firms would need to collaborate with other firms to overcome their resource constraints. Geographic colocation is one way to facilitate positive interfirm interactions that promote networking and subsequently cooperation. The purpose of this paper is, thus, to addresses two questions. Firstly, how and to what extent does interfirm marketing cooperation in geographic colocation influence the internationalization of micro and small informal manufacturing enterprises? Secondly, how do the perceived benefits of local external economies moderate this relationship?Design/methodology/approachThe study draws evidence from 125 randomly selected informal enterprises located in two major clusters in Ghana, using a mixed-method approach.FindingsThe partial least square - structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis applied revealed two central points. Firstly, sharing marketing costs allows informal firms to upgrade their phases of export development directly. Secondly, the linkage of increasing sales activities and local external economies encourages the progress of the phases of export development and the scope of internationalization. Results confirm that the cluster benefits of interfirm cooperation and local external economies on the informal firm internationalization process complement each other in addition to their linear relationship.Originality/valueThe study contributes to understanding the nexus of the informal sector, geographic colocation and the entrepreneurial internationalization literature. The results should motivate researchers and policymakers to approach informal firm internationalization through collaborative business activities.

Stimulating competition, diversification, or re-enforcing entrepreneurial barriers? Exploring small-scale electricity systems and gender-inclusive entrepreneurship

This article provides empirical contributions to our understanding of how small-scale renewable electricity systems (RES) can generate gender-equal opportunities for entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa. This ties with our recent enquiry into the gender-electricity-entrepreneurship nexus (Osunmuyiwa & Ahlborg, 2019). Conceptually, we apply our recently developed Gender and Socially Inclusive Electricity for Entrepreneurship framework to explore the degree to which small businesses are growing or changing their production processes through access to RES and the gendered dimensions of these processes. This approach allows us to first; unpack how entrepreneurs in local spaces interact with RES and how this stimulates entrepreneurial opportunities and enables small businesses to develop new product or service offerings. Second, examine how RES reliance on existing socio-political systems and institutions might perpetuate socio-economic and gendered imbalances and affect entrepreneurial outcomes in case communities. We operationalise the analytical approach in a case study of small-scale RES in a rural district of Njombe, Tanzania. Our results reveal a boost in entrepreneurial activities. However, we found gendered differences in the capacity to initiate and sustain new product or service offerings. Similarly, while access to RES affected entrepreneurs' perception about social status by spurring significant changes in views around female business ownership, most women remained in low-growth enterprises due to existing socio-economic and power imbalances. We conclude by providing critical reflections for policy and developmental organisations aiming to deploy RES to promote inclusive electricity use for entrepreneurship in low-income communities.

Entrepreneurial ecosystem and start-ups in Sub-Saharan Africa: Empirical evidence based on Global Entrepreneurship Monitor database

Objective: The aim of the study is to examine the nexus between entrepreneurial ecosystem and nascent entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa. Research Design & Methods: The study employed a quantitative methodology and consequently, the variables and data were drawn from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) survey ranging from 2004-2019. The sample observations of the study were eight countries across sub-Saharan Africa. The country-level data were analyzed through the application of least square regression to determine the nexus between the financing environment, government support policy, physical and service infrastructure and entrepreneurial start-ups. Findings: The study findings demonstrate that entrepreneurial financing had positive effect on nascent entrepreneurship; government support policy had positive effect on entrepreneurial start-ups; infrastructure had positive effect on early entrepreneurial activity. Implications & Recommendations: The paper recommends that there should be a renewed commitment on the part of governments to support and initiate intervention programmes to build entrepreneurial ecosystem and promote entrepreneurial activity but such programme design and implementation should look into contextual specifics and consider the COVID-19 related factors. Contribution & Value Added: In this paper, we have offered significant contribution to the existing body of scholarship in small business management and entrepreneurship from the prisms of global health emergency and that building a friendly entrepreneurial ecosystem stimulates prevalence and sustainability of nascent entrepreneurship in countries.

Financing women’s entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa: bank, microfinance and mobile money

ABSTRACT Faced with an increasingly high unemployment rate in Sub-Saharan Africa, setting up new businesses is more than ever a necessity. Women who try to work in this direction, however, face several difficulties, one of which is obtaining funding. This is why this study aims to determine the role played by banks, microfinance institutions and mobile money in the financing of female entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa. To do this, it mobilizes data ranging from 2004 to 2018 on 44 countries in the region. The use of the generalized method of moments (GMM) reveals women’s access to banking services in sub-Saharan Africa does not have a significant effect on their self-employment. On the other hand, it appears that microfinance services and mobile money are significant alternatives for financing this self-employment in the region. In addition, this study highlighted the push hypothesis of entrepreneurship. The results show that women turn to entrepreneurship because they have difficulty in obtaining paid employment.

Killing the Goose That Lays the Egg: A Discourse of Politics and Entrepreneurial Development in Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper examines the relationship between a society's political culture or system and the development of entrepreneurship. Specifically, the paper examines the issues of political risks and instability, how the prevailing political culture in Sub-Saharan Africa undermines indigenous entrepreneurship and enterprise development, how the politics of privatization, indigenization and prejudice against non-indigene entrepreneurs skews the development of entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, the consequences of excessive regulation, bribery and bureaucratic corruption on entrepreneurial development are examined. It is argued that the political system and culture of a nation affects its economic policies and business practices to the degree to which it promotes or discourages risks faced by investors.

Transnational Entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Absorptive Capacity Theory of Knowledge Spillover Entrepreneurship Perspective

The study seeks to explain how migrants’ access, understand and recognise the value of new knowledge in enhancing transnational entrepreneurship. This is important as it provides insights into how knowledge is accessed and employed in different contexts to recognise entrepreneurial opportunities. Using the absorptive capacity theory of knowledge spillover entrepreneurship, this study contributes to previous research which has focussed on the scope and boundaries of this phenomenon at a firm or institutional level, but not at the level of the transnational entrepreneur (TE). Furthermore, this study contributes by examining the role of human capital and the prior knowledge and experience that migrants use and acquire in transnational entrepreneurship. A qualitative approach based on phenomenology was adopted in this research. A purposive sample of four TEs living in South Africa and running businesses in Zimbabwe were investigated. The results show that the possession of requisite human capital along with concern for the home country facilitates the acquisition of new knowledge. This new knowledge, when integrated with prior knowledge and cultural compatibility between home and host countries, influences the immigrant’s intention to form new ventures and return to the home country. This study explains the role of human capital and the mechanisms that are implemented in acquiring knowledge resources and their subsequent transformation into a business entity.

Ethical Judgments About Social Entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Influence of Spatio-Cultural Meanings

Within this paper, we adopt a qualitative process approach to explore how ethical judgments are influenced by spatio-cultural meanings applied to social entrepreneurship in the context of Mozambique. We analyse how such ethical judgments emerged using data gathered over a 4 year period in Maputo. Our findings illustrate three modes used to inform ethical judgments: embracing, rejecting and integrating. These describe how ethical judgments transpire as participants evaluate social entrepreneurship drawing upon related global normative meanings and those embedded within the local context. This analysis offers a critical contribution regarding how ethical judgments regarding social entrepreneurship evolve from negotiation and interaction within a context of multiple spatio-cultural meanings.

Transitions Out of Informality Among Entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa

Prior research has linked firm registration among entrepreneurs to faster growth and larger eco- nomic benefits from entrepreneurship, such as higher employment and revenue generation. Yet, despite these benefits, many entrepreneurs remain informal (unregistered) for extended periods of time. Why do entrepreneurs remain informal and what predicts the probability and timing of their exit out of informality through registration? I examine these questions in the dynamic con- text of firms founded informally throughout the region of Sub-Saharan Africa, across countries with varying founding conditions. Contrary to existing accounts, which emphasize economic drivers into registration and cross-national differences in transactions costs and formal institu- tions, I theorize and test the role of social and organizational drivers, such as entrepreneurs’ intentions and prevailing organizing norms and social distrust in the environments where they founded their organizations. I find that individual differences explain about 80 percent of the variance in the length of informality spells, with the remaining 20 percent attributable to re- gional differences. These findings have important implication for impediments to formalization among entrepreneurs in emerging economies.

How do female entrepreneurs in developing countries cope with role conflict?

PurposeFemale entrepreneurs often face significant conflicts in allocating time and resources to the various roles demanded of them by their communities. This has been identified as a potential obstacle to their performance as entrepreneurs. This paper aims to examine the question: How do women cope with role conflict?Design/methodology/approachThe authors tackled the question by conducting a survey that involved 307 female business owners in Ethiopia. The survey result was supported by 20 in-depth interviews.FindingsThe commonest coping strategies identified were negotiation, committing to the entrepreneurial role, committing to social roles, pleasing all, seeking social support and hiring outside support. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed that these coping strategies differed across the various stages of business growth. Meanwhile, structural equation modeling established that female business owners with high levels of personal resources (such as optimism, self-efficacy and resilience) committed more to their entrepreneurial roles than to their social roles.Originality/valueThis research contributes knowledge on coping strategies among female entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa, where family structure and orientation, the economy and social development differ from those in developed countries. The research also integrates the lines of empirical research on coping strategies with the process-based view of entrepreneurship.

A descriptive literature review of the continued marginalisation of female entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa

A descriptive literature review of the continued marginalisation of female entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa

A descriptive literature review of the continued marginalisation of female entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa

Sustaining entrepreneurship requires the participation of every member of society including women. Although they are actively involved as owners and/or managers of small and or/medium enterprises, ...

Delivering on the Promise of Distributed Renewable Energy Entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa

This review of distributed renewable energy (DRE) entrepreneurship analyzes the market demand and unique market characteristics in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) that drive technology-enabled DRE entrepreneurial solutions through innovative business models. It further examines how policy and regulatory challenges need to be overcome for scale and impact. The unmet energy demand in SSA provides significant opportunities for DRE entrepreneurs to complement and/or substitute grid-based systems through renewable energy solutions. The characteristics of DRE solutions such as affordability, modularity, flexibility, and sustainability endow competitive advantages in small-scale price-sensitive market segments especially in rural and remote settings. The viability and scalability of business models in the DRE sectors are highly dependent on a conducive policy and regulatory-enabling environment. DRE entrepreneurs are disrupting energy markets by combining technologies in renewable energy, energy efficiency, mobile payment, and data management systems to meet energy demand especially in price-sensitive, rural and remote markets.

The Role of Human Capital in Cluster‐Based Industrial Development

More often than not, manufacturing industries are clustered in small areas in developing economies of Asia and sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA). While agglomeration economies arising from low transaction costs are a clear advantage of industrial clusters, a drawback is the ease of imitation, which leads to the gap between social and private benefits of innovation. An important observation is that multifaceted innovation, consisting of the quality improvement of products, improved internal management, and the introduction of new marketing systems, takes place in many industrial clusters in Asia, but such innovation seldom occurs in SSA. This article attributes this to greater endowment of entrepreneurial human capital, and increased possibility of learning advanced technologies and management methods from neighboring countries in Asia than in SSA. This article also discusses evidence suggesting that multifaceted innovation can be stimulated by offering management training to entrepreneurs in SSA.

Openness, ICT and entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how information and communication technology (ICT) influences openness to improve the conditions of doing business in sub-Saharan Africa.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected for the period 2000-2012. ICT is proxied with internet and mobile phone penetration rates whereas openness is measured in terms of financial and trade globalisation. Ten indicators of doing business are used, namely: cost of business start-up procedures; procedure to enforce a contract; start-up procedures to register a business; time required to build a warehouse; time required to enforce a contract; time required to register a property; time required to start a business; time to export; time to prepare and pay taxes; and time to resolve an insolvency. The empirical evidence is based on generalised method of moments with forward orthogonal deviations.FindingsWhile the authors find substantial evidence that ICT complements openness to improve conditions for entrepreneurship, the effects are contingent on the dynamics of openness, ICT and entrepreneurship. Theoretical and practical policy implications are discussed.Originality/valueThe inquiry is based on two contemporary development concerns: the need for policy to leverage on the ICT penetration potential in the sub-region and the relevance of entrepreneurship in addressing associated issues of population growth such as unemployment.