Fostering entrepreneurship for innovation in African Banks’ subsidiaries

ABSTRACT

How to keep the spirit and dynamics of an entrepreneurial venture alive as it evolves into a large institution? A small number of African-owned banks have risen from early entrepreneurial beginnings to large scale operations with subsidiaries in international markets. This study explores how they further the spirit of entrepreneurship through fostering the intrapreneurial process, which is critical for producing the innovation that keeps established banks relevant in the emerging context of fintech. Based on qualitative research at the Nairobi-based Equity Bank, this paper explores how entrepreneurial structures can be fostered across large-scale international subsidiary networks. The findings suggest that strategic reinvention, subsidiary autonomy, new staff development, storytelling, exchange of good practice, and experimentation can all help sustain entrepreneurial spirit.

KEYWORDS:

• intrapreneurship
• African banking
• internationalization
• entrepreneurial spirit
• entrepreneurial processes

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Christian Wolf (PhD) is a researcher at PEEP, where he also collaborates as Special Projects Coordinator on the SG4Africa project, which was co-founded by PEEP and the University of Johannesburg to explore informal savings groups. He was previously invited lecturer at ISCTE-Lisbon University Institute, where he taught Entrepreneurial Finance and International Finance. He received his PhD in Strategy and Entrepreneurship from ISCTE-Lisbon University Institute.

Dana T. Redford (PhD) is a Senior Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley and is the Founder and President of the NGO PEEP. Prof. Redford is an internationally recognized expert on entrepreneurship, innovation and public policy. He has worked as an expert for the US Department of Commerce, the European Commission, the OECD, the UN and various European and African governments. He is the co-founder and international co-coordinator of the SG4Africa project on informal savings groups.