Transitional Challenges in Lagos’ (Nigeria) Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: A Multi-level Analysis

This study assessed the challenges with transitioning from start-up to scaleup in Lagos’ emerging entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE)Entrepreneur/entrepreneurialecosystem. Current studies on transitional challengesTransitional challenges in emerging EEs appear nascent, fragmented, or narrow focused, making it challenging to focus policy initiatives. The study is based on a qualitative methodology based on an interpretive philosophy. Primary data were collected from forty ecosystem actors in Lagos comprising founders, funders, support providers such as hubs, NGOs, academia, and government agencies, using semi-structured interviews. Additional data were collected from a two-day focus group discussion Summit in LagosLagos. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data retrieved. Micro-level challenges featured issues like corporate governanceCorporate governance, competence and capabilities, and business model-related challenges; at the meso-level, talent leakage, access to finance, markets, information, and supports and networks; and at the macro-level, tax, regulation, infrastructural deficiency, and security. We found spillover and feedback effects across the levels. The study argues the need to recraft internal configurations of start-ups at the micro-level, shift from competition to cooperation at the meso-level, and leverage private–public actor collaboration at the macro-level. The study addresses the transitional challenges in multi-levels from an ecosystem lens which is a major shift from mainstream literature in emerging economies.