African entrepreneurship : an exploration of innovation hubs as development institutions
| dc.contributor.advisor | Burger, A. P. Johan | en_ZA |
| dc.contributor.advisor | van Breda, John | en_ZA |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Rabie, Babette | en_ZA |
| dc.contributor.author | Nkontwana, Phumlani Stanley | en_ZA |
| dc.contributor.other | Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Leadership. | en_ZA |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2022-02-18T08:51:23Z | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2022-04-29T09:19:02Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2022-02-18T08:51:23Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2022-04-29T09:19:02Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2022-04 | |
| dc.description | Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2022. | en_ZA |
| dc.description.abstract | ENGLISH SUMMARY: Innovation hubs have emerged as key hybrid entrepreneurship spaces where certain important institutional arrangements are made. Yet their development impact has arguably remained elusive. To explore underlying issues, this research aimed to answer the main question: How can hubs across Africa be reconfigured in ways that translate entrepreneurship into development? This investigation took an institutional approach to answering the research question. This was grounded on the argument that while evolutionary economic theory was an important contribution in crystallising the role of entrepreneurship in the formal economy, it reduced entrepreneurship to a micro-economic phenomenon by overly focusing on the individual entrepreneur and understating the mediating factors of institutional arrangements and the political economy. By implication, this necessitated a redescription of entrepreneurship in line with a macro-economic development perspective. Drawing from the new conceptual redescription of entrepreneurship and literature reviewed, it was argued that hubs have the potential to be effective at supporting entrepreneurship that leads to development, but only if they employ an ecological approach. An ecological approach was argued to be more useful for African entrepreneurship because it meant acknowledging the importance of creating a dynamic ecology of support among hubs. The choice of methodology was, by extension, based on its ability to embrace the relational and macro-economic perspectives of entrepreneurship. Thus, the study used an emergent transformative transdisciplinary research methodology involving five research design phases: co-design, stakeholder engagements, co-production of new knowledge, dissemination of results; and inspiring action. To complement the methodology, the study followed a narrative-based research method called SenseMaker®, which enabled the data collection of 100 stories across Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda. To answer the research question, the investigation organised respondent data into factual knowledge of their current realities (systems knowledge), areas of possible levers that may signal strategic areas of intervening (transformation knowledge) and ideal results local respondents reported they want (target knowledge). The analysis execution of the qualitative dataset used to derive empirical findings, employed two but complementary statistical techniques namely thematic analysis and non-linear causality diagram. One of the key empirical findings suggested hubs are potentially a key institutional vehicle that assembles resources such as talent, ideas and capital. Concurrently, the study highlighted an ongoing dominant perspective that while government is experienced as either absent or punitive, and private sector continues to be experienced as the lead force in coordinating ecosystem activities that drive entrepreneurship momentum and maturity; successful African entrepreneurs are essentially minority foreigners or diaspora with international education, past corporate experiences or upper-middle-class family backgrounds. By providing a new theoretical redescription of entrepreneurship from a development perspective and a practical example of employing methodological agility in an empirical investigation, the study contributed an original narrative account of stakeholder’s experiences evidencing the growing emerging view that even though the mainstream discourse in entrepreneurship is mainly about driving momentum and maturity across different ecosystems, locals and indigenous entrepreneurs do not have a sense of control or human agency to shape the directionality of African entrepreneurship toward development outcomes they want. | en_ZA |
| dc.description.abstract | AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Innovasie-spilpunte het as sleutelruimtes vir hibriede entrepreneurskap te voorskyn getree waar sekere belangrike institusionele reëlings getref word. Tog het hulle ontwikkelingsimpak stellig ontwykend gebly. Om onderliggende aangeleenthede te ondersoek, het hierdie navorsing ten doel gehad om die hoofvraag te beantwoord: Op watter wyses kan spilpunte regdeur Afrika hersaamgestel word om entrepreneurskap in ontwikkeling te omskep? Hierdie ondersoek het 'n institusionele benadering gevolg om die navorsingsvraag te beantwoord. Dit is gegrond op die redenasie dat, hoewel evolusionêre, ekonomiese teorie 'n belangrike bydrae lewer om die rol van entrepreneurskap in die formele ekonomie te laat uitkristaliseer, dit ondernemerskap tot 'n mikro-ekonomiese verskynsel verminder deur in oormaat op die individuele entrepreneur te fokus en die bemiddelende faktore van institusionele reëlings en die politieke ekonomie te onderskat. By implikasie het dit 'n herbeskrywing van entrepreneurskap, belyn met 'n makro-ekonomiese ontwikkelingsperspektief, genoodsaak. Op grond van die nuwe konseptuele herbeskrywing van entrepreneurskap en literatuur, wat hersien is, is geredeneer dat spilpunte die potensiaal het om doeltreffend te wees om entrepreneurskap te ondersteun, wat tot ontwikkeling lei, maar dan alleenlik indien hulle 'n ekologiese benadering volg. Daar is geredeneer dat 'n ekologiese benadering vir Afrika-entrepreneurskap van groter nut is omrede dit daarop neerkom dat dit belangrik is om 'n dinamiese ekologie van ondersteuning onder spilpunte te skep. Die keuse van metodiek is – met toevoeging – gebaseer op die vermoë om die verbandhoudende en makro-ekonomiese perspektiewe van entrepreneurskap te aanvaar. Die studie maak derhalwe gebruik van 'n opkomende, transformatiewe transdissiplinêre navorsingsmetodiek, wat vyf navorsingsontwerpfases insluit, naamlik mede-ontwerp, betrokkenheid met belanghebbendes, mede-produksie van nuwe kennis, verspreiding van resultate en inspirerende optrede. Om die metodiek aan te vul, volg die studie 'n narratief-gebaseerde navorsingsmetode genaamd SenseMaker®, wat die data-insameling van 100 verhale in Ghana, Kenia en Rwanda moontlik gemaak het. Om die navorsingsvraag te beantwoord, het die ondersoek die data van die respondente georden in feitelike kennis van hulle huidige werklikheid (stelselskennis), terreine van moontlike rigtingwysers wat strategiese gebiede van ingryping kan aandui (transformasiekennis) en ideale resultate wat plaaslike respondente vermeld het hulle verlang (teikenkennis). Die analise-uitvoering van die kwalitatiewe datastel, wat aangewend is om empiriese bevindings af te lei, het twee aanvullende statistiese tegnieke toegepas, naamlik tematiese analise en nie-lineêre kousaliteitsdiagram. Een van die belangrikste empiriese bevindings dui daarop dat spilpunte moontlik 'n sleutel institusionele voertuig is wat bronne soos talent, idees en kapitaal versamel. Terselfdertyd het die studie 'n deurlopende, dominante perspektief benadruk. Dié kom daarop neer dat, hoewel die regering as afwesig of tugtigend beskou word, en die privaatsektor steeds as die leidende krag erken word ten opsigte van die koördinering van ekostelselbedrywighede (wat die momentum en volwassenheid van entrepreneurskap dryf), suksesvolle Afrika-entrepreneurs in wese ’n minderheid buitelanders, of diaspora, is – met internasionale opvoeding, korporatiewe ervaring of hoër middelklas-gesinsagtergronde. Deur 'n nuwe teoretiese herbeskrywing van entrepreneurskap – uit 'n ontwikkelingsperspektief – en 'n praktiese voorbeeld van die gebruik van metodologiese behendigheid in 'n empiriese ondersoek te voorsien, het hierdie studie 'n oorspronklike, narratiewe weergawe van die ervarings van belanghebbendes gelewer. Dié bewys die toenemende en sigbaarwordende siening dat, hoewel die hoofstroomgesprekke oor entrepreneurskap veral oor die bevordering van momentum en volwassenheid in verskillende ekostelsels handel, plaaslike inwoners en inheemse entrepreneurs oor geen mate van beheer, of menslike bemiddeling, beskik om Afrika-entrepreneurskap in die rigting van die ontwikkelingsuitkomste, wat hulle verlang, te giet nie. | af_ZA |
| dc.description.version | Doctoral | |
| dc.format.extent | xv, 312 pages : illustrations, includes annexures | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/124546 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_ZA | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University | |
| dc.rights.holder | Stellenbosch University | |
| dc.subject | Entrepreneurship -- South Africa | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Business -- Technological innovations -- South Africa | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Business incubators -- South Africa | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Economic geography -- South Africa | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | UCTD | |
| dc.title | African entrepreneurship : an exploration of innovation hubs as development institutions | en_ZA |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_ZA |
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