TOWARD AN ENTREPRENEURIAL REVOLUTION: UNDERSTANDING THE ENTREPRENEURIAL SUPPORT ECOSYSTEMS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

ABSTRACT CHAPTER 1 Entrepreneurial Support Organizations (hereafter ESOs) play an important role in nascent entrepreneurial ecosystems (hereafter EEs) through enabling productive and sustainable entrepreneurship. However, in such ecosystems ESOs may struggle to access the resources they need to activate their support. Drawing upon inductive qualitative research with 31 ESOs and 40 interviews in Uganda, we examine how ESOs navigate challenges of resource-constraints in nascent EEs. A conceptual model is developed, depicting: (1) key challenges ESOs face in resource-constrained nascent EEs, (2) the practices they enact to navigate such challenges, and (3) the implications of these practices at the meso-level of the ‘entrepreneurial support ecosystem’. We find that some ESOs use adaptation practices to navigate challenges in nascent EEs, whilst others deploy more agentic collaboration and transformation practices. We describe the latter as ‘ecosystem work’ defined as efforts to create, maintain, and disrupt entrepreneurial support ecosystems. Finally, our model depicts how different navigating practices may influence entrepreneurial support dynamics. We suggest that whilst adaptation alone may result in stagnating entrepreneurial support ecosystems, that ecosystem work may generate more flourishing entrepreneurial support ecosystems. We contribute to research on nascent EEs and ESOs and offer practical implications. ABSTRACT CHAPTER 2 Scholars and practitioners are more and more interested in building Sustainable Entrepreneurial Ecosystems to enhance entrepreneurial-led sustainable development, even in emerging countries. In this regard, while extant literature attributes a key role to Entrepreneurial Support Organizations (ESOs) especially when they are focused on promoting sustainable and social entrepreneurs (SEs), it still assumes that ESOs have enough resources and managerial capabilities to balance tensions in pursuing their multiple goals, including the ability of achieving financial sustainability as organizations and creating social and environmental impact trough their support interventions. This may not be the situation of ESOs supporting SEs in emerging countries, where contextual challenges and severe resource constraints could make ESOs’ tensions too hard to be solved, with the unintended consequence of increasing the risk of mission drift both for ESOs and SEs within the nascent entrepreneurial ecosystem. With an in-depth qualitative study based on 38 interviews and several field visits and observation with 19 ESOs operating in Uganda, we investigate how ESOs navigate managerial tensions to develop sustainable support in resource-constrained nascent entrepreneurial ecosystems. ABSTRACT CHAPTER 3 Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (EEs) are widely considered as pivotal in driving entrepreneurial-led development, particularly in emerging regions characterized by substantial resource constraints. A growing body of literature is investigating EEs at their nascent phase of evolution, marked by challenges such as infrastructural deficiencies, wider institutional voids and weak network problems. In this context, scholars argue Entrepreneurial Support Organizations (ESOs) play a critical role by fostering connectivity and enabling the formation of local Financial Support Networks (FSNs). However, in nascent EEs, external influences and decontextualized approaches often exacerbate resource mismatches and biased allocations, widening local ecosystem fragmentation and hindering ESOs’ ability to effectively support local entrepreneurial endeavors. This study adopts an inductive qualitative approach, including 84 interviews and extensive field observations in Kenya, to explore how actors’ interaction affects local EE evolution. Our findings highlight how Macro-Disconnections in the Local Entrepreneurial Ecosystem enhance a mismatch between ESOs, local funders and startups, influencing local EE dynamics with negative consequences. Conversely, localized and supportive Foundational Ecosystem Works mitigate these challenges, contributing towards EE resilience. By unpacking micro-foundational processes across different ecosystem levels, we contribute to EE literature emphasizing the importance of contextualized and indigenous strategies for fostering entrepreneurial ecosystems in emerging regions.