Entrepreneurial Ecosystem and Entrepreneurship Development: Content Analysis and Positioning

Purpose: The study explores the dynamics of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and entrepreneurship development by emphasising content analysis and positioning the dynamics of the relationship. The motivation for this study is that despite the enterprise-led policies in Africa, entrepreneurship development is slow, and integration of enterprise-led is still in its infancy in Africa. Moreover, the enterprises borne out of these policies are not robust to withstand business uncertainties, shocks, and turbulence making them susceptible to going-concern problems notwithstanding government interventions, enterprise sustainability has been a persistent challenge for Africa. This study explores the dynamics of Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem as antecedents to explain these enterprise-led challenges and opportunities to improve entrepreneurship through a sound entrepreneurship ecosystem (EE). Methods: The study employs content and thematic analysis. It explores relevant themes emanating from the discussion of the literature so as to achieve the operational objectives of this study. Findings: The study reveals that Africa’s EE is resource-induced. The resource-induced framework has been proposed to operationalise EE. It is further found that the key constituents of Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem are government, operation, marketing, finance and human resources. The study demonstrated that due to access challenges and resource constraints, these entrepreneurial ecosystems have a time-varying effect with robustness evident in the long-run. Research Limitation/Implications: The study is conducted in the African context. Therefore, the research audience should consider this constraint when relying on the evidence found in this study. Practical implication: One fundamental implication of the findings is that African governments are expected to pursue supporter-oriented interventions to position the elements of the entrepreneurial ecosystem for creating an entrepreneurship development culture. Social Implication: The findings imply that the efforts to improve the livelihood of African society through an enterprise-led policy should be complementary. The policy should stimulate top-tier government efforts to create opportunities to complement firm-specific strategies (operation, marketing, finance and human resources) to grease the enterprise environment not only for the existing high-growth firms but also for new ventures or start-ups. Originality/Value: The study adds to the critical analyses of the entrepreneurial ecosystem-entrepreneurship development nexus. It follows a resource-based approach to conceptualise the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the African context.