Capacity of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development in Africa: Theoretical and Conceptual Perspective

Purpose: The study focuses on the capacity of innovation and entrepreneurship development in Africa. This is conceived on the ground that although entrepreneurship development requires that the enterprises emanating from entrepreneurial intervention are expected to be sustainable, it has been documented that enterprises in Africa are not resilient and therefore have low survival rates. To address this menace would require the integration and enhancement of drivers of value creation and sustainability in the business process. Innovation capacity and concentration are believed to be the catalyst that could drive enterprise value chain processes and deepen sustainability. This study, therefore, seeks to explore how the capacity of innovation in Africa could speed up entrepreneurship development in Africa. Methods: This study adopts a content and technical analysis approach. It specifically explores relevant literature on the subject, conducts content analysis, and presents technical discourse so as to situate the narratives in the context of the study objectives. Relevant themes borne out of the analyses define the structure of the study. Findings: The study reveals that although African countries are pursuing an enterprise-led policy, the desired entrepreneurship development is still lagging. It is also observed that there are structural imbalances in the African capacity of innovation. Africa’s innovation is enterprise-led making it difficult for emerging entrepreneurs to access the processes openly. The study further reveals that high-growth firms (HGF) have the ease to access innovative business processes compared to infant enterprises. Research Limitation/Implications: This study and its technical analyses are scoped within the African context. Therefore, the extrapolation of the findings and implications is limited to Africa. Practical implication: This study has the potential to correct the innovation imbalances among African enterprises retarding growth and development. Social Implication: This study presents a window for developing policy on open innovation in Africa to deepen entrepreneurship and subsequently improve access to quality employment and improved social welfare. Originality/Value: Innovation capacity and concentration are believed to be the catalyst that could drive the enterprise value chain process and deepen sustainability. However, this is one of the emerging studies which has specifically situated the subject in Africa.