How do entrepreneurs succeed in challenging economic environments in Africa? Case study evidence from Ghana

ABSTRACT

The main aim of the study is to explore aspects of entrepreneurs’ motivation and perceptions with reference to prevailing values in a given context in Africa. In the initial sections of the paper, we draw on concepts of entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurship ecosystem when discussing push and pull factors, access to resources, and Ubuntu. This discussion leads to the formulation of a set of research questions and the presentation of a case study analysis. The case study reveals the extent to which globalization and global events can present as palpable phenomena for small businesses opened by entrepreneurs in Africa. Further, in highlighting altruistically oriented entrepreneurial motivations and actions, the case study raises questions about notions of “necessity” entrepreneurs, given that entrepreneurship in Africa has traditionally been linked to finance and employment as opposed to altruistic and dispositional motivations. In drawing attention to the policy implications of the findings, we highlight that entrepreneurs driven by Ubuntu values are likely to be motivated to address issues of poverty, unemployment and community harmony as compared to those who are primarily motivated by rational-economic factors.

KEYWORDS:

• entrepreneurship
• Africa
• Ghana
• values
• entrepreneurial ecosystem
• Ubuntu

Introduction

This case study tells a story of small-sized company that offers diversified services to private individual clients and corporate businesses. The case study is presented from various theoretical angles and lenses with the aim of shedding light on entrepreneurs’ motivation and aspects of the entrepreneurial ecosystem with reference to prevailing values in a given context in Africa. Thus, we examine the case study data from socio-cultural, economic development, and ethical perspectives. From a socioeconomic development perspective, the case highlights ways in which lone actors may try to carve out business opportunities and successful livelihoods even under difficult economic situations. The need for technical and professional skills is self-evident from an entrepreneurship perspective. Yet, this case highlights why, in a difficult business environment, operating a successful business also requires certain psychological qualities which are required to engage with the prevailing cultural value system. It offers insights into ways in which entrepreneurs, who are pre-disposed towards altruistic values, are likely to deal with difficult and challenging business environments differently compared to entrepreneurs who adopt a more rational-economic orientation. In addition, the case exemplifies some of the specific ways in which an entrepreneur may display behaviors which align with the philosophy and values of Ubuntu.

In summary, the main aim of this study is to explore aspects of entrepreneurs’ motivation and perceptions with reference to prevailing values in a given context in Africa. The paper is structured in the following manner. First, we present the theoretical background of the study with reference to themes such as the nature of entrepreneurship in Africa, push and pull factors associated with entrepreneurial behavior, Ubuntu, and the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Africa including family and gender considerations. This discussion leads to the formulation of three research questions and the presentation of a case study analysis. The main conclusions drawn from the analysis are summarized in the final section of the paper.

Theoretical Background

Entrepreneurship has long been associated with the field of international development and specifically with economic development in Africa (Kiggundu, 2002; McDade & Spring, 2005). At the heart of this association is the observation that: “ … indigenous entrepreneurship is a sure foundation for development” (Ahmed & Nwankwo, 2013, p. 82). Thus, while the involvement of multinational companies (MNCs) in Africa is well documented, especially with reference to Chinese MNCs, the importance of entrepreneurial activity at the local level has emerged as a key theme in literature which explores subjects such as regional development and approaches to management in Africa (Asongu & Odhiambo, 2019). For example, Ratten and Jones (2018, p. 9) succinctly state: “There is a growing recognition that entrepreneurship in Africa provides a way to enable financial independence and control over one’s destiny. This is important to community development and increasing the quality of life for people in Africa”. While it is not within the remit of the paper to explore directly the impact of colonialism on Africa, it is recognized here that phrases such as “control over one’s destiny” are likely to resonate in African contexts where people were: “dispossessed of their land and their destiny as well as their dignity as people” (Bohwasi, 2020, p. 110).

At the outset of this paper, we highlight that there is no universally accepted definition of entrepreneurship. Nevertheless, Hisrich and Peters (2002, p. 10) offer the following widely cited and long-established definition: “the process of creating something new and assuming the risks and rewards”. Notably, the definition locates entrepreneurship as a creative process undertaken within an environment in which assumptions about the outcomes of the process, in the form of risks and rewards, are being made by the entrepreneur. George et al. (2016, p. 118) complement this perspective by stating that individuals engaged in entrepreneurship must be assuming that the rewards, in whatever form, will be greater than the costs of the effort. In moving the discussion to the context of Africa, Naudé and Havenga (2005) highlight that the term entrepreneurship is most often equated with self-employment. Thus, in the context of Africa, one of the key rewards of entrepreneurship is likely to be the creation and maintenance of paid employment for the entrepreneurs themselves.

Challenges and Risks of Entrepreneurship in Africa

As indicated above, the definition of entrepreneurship presented by Hisrich and Peters (2002) includes reference to perceived risks in the context in which business in being undertaken. This observation provides a call for further consideration of the significant challenges which need to be faced by budding entrepreneurs in Africa. Sriram and Mersha (2010, p. 261) point out that: “Despite some successes in specific sectors the prevailing business climate in most African countries is anything but conducive to entrepreneurial pursuits”. In their review of the challenges of doing business in Africa, Asongu and Odhiambo (2019, p. 26) posit that businesses in Africa are faced with: “daunting social, political and economic risks” linked to a range of challenges including: start-up and running costs, shortages of energy supply, lack of access to finance, relatively high taxes, and low levels of cross-border trading opportunities. Similarly, Ibidunni et al. (2021) identify specific challenges, such as multiple taxes, levies and lack of government support, which entrepreneurs in Africa are likely to face as they seek to sustain the performance and continuity of their businesses. In the same vein, Ahmed and Nwankwo (2013, p. 84) in their overview of entrepreneurship development in Africa write of the: “ … stultifying environment … , poor access to credit in rural communities, sorry state of education, and support infrastructure”. Yet, despite these challenges and associated risks, there is emergent evidence that entrepreneurship is increasingly visible across Africa and, arguably, may now be more prevalent in Africa than in Europe (Dvouletý & Orel, 2019).

Given the widely acknowledged challenges and risks associated with entrepreneurship in Africa, questions then arise as to the main motivational factors, which lead individuals in this geographical context to display entrepreneurial orientation by, for example, starting their own businesses (Musara & Nieuwenhuizen, 2020). Despite the scarcity of research-driven data on aspects of innovation and entrepreneurship in Africa (Igwe et al., 2020), various lines of enquiry have emerged such as the motivational imperatives and the identification of push–pull factors (Nyame-Asiamah et al., 2020) which lead to entrepreneurial behavior across Africa. While acknowledging the lack of a discrete separation, Eijdenberg et al. (2021, p. 171) succinctly categorize associated terms by stating that: “Researchers have often suggested a distinction between opportunity and necessity motivations or, in other words, between pull and push factors in entrepreneurial motivation”. In effect, the conclusion drawn is that explanations for entrepreneurial aspirations and behavior often cite basic needs and drives, such as survival, as well as higher-order needs, such as financial gain and social status (Eijdenberg et al., 2021, p. 173).

Established research has long emphasized the importance of psychological variables to entrepreneurship in Africa (Kiggundu, 2002; Sriram & Mersha, 2010). In this tradition, Ismail (2022) analyzed the mediating effect of personality traits on start-up motivations and the growth of small and medium enterprises in Tanzania, drawing the conclusion that both entrepreneurial start-up motivations and personality traits contribute to the growth of SMEs. Another line of primarily psychologically oriented research has focused on the role of self-efficacy in entrepreneurship (Gielnik et al., 2020). This line of enquiry makes a helpful contribution in seeking to explain why some individuals are able to translate their desire to create a start-up business into observable behavior and goal accomplishment). Thus, while explicitly recognizing that the interface between motivational psychology research and entrepreneurship research remains “relatively underdeveloped”, Urban (2020, p. 490) states: “In the SE [social entrepreneurship] literature, self-efficacy has been employed to show how the social entrepreneur is enabled to view the social enterprise as something feasible and therefore is an important element in the process of formation of SE intentions”. The findings of a recent review into entrepreneurship research in the Middle East and North Africa (Aljuwaiber, 2021, 400) offer support for this statement, stating that one of the most important issues in launching a new business is: “Entrepreneurial self-efficacy as in an awareness of the business market, the ability to prepare a business plan, the possession of managerial skills, a lack of risk aversion, a lack of fear of failure, and the presence of family support”.

Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Africa

The discussion above provides evidence that psychologically driven approaches to entrepreneurship in Africa have sought to address key issues connected to push and pull factors at the level of the individual. In this body of literature, there is, however, broad recognition of the influential nature of the context in which entrepreneurship may or may not take place. For example, Urban (2020) emphasizes the need to consider contextual influences on social entrepreneurship. This acknowledgement echoes the questions for future research posed by Carsrud and Brännback (2011, pp. 19–20) in their seminal paper on entrepreneurial motivations, namely: “How does context impact entrepreneurial motivation?” and “How do self-efficacy, outcome expectation, interest, goals, and contextual settings interact to impact entrepreneurial behaviors?” In order to address questions of this type, entrepreneurship literature relating to Africa has, over more recent years, engaged with the concept of “entrepreneurial ecosystem” (Acs et al., 2018; Isenberg, 2011; Liguori et al., 2018) which has been defined as: “ … an intentional collaborating network of dynamic socioeconomic structures with interacting systems and subsystems that are geared towards developing entrepreneurship in a given geographical context” (Atiase et al., 2018, p. 645). Central to this discussion is the observation that an entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE), as portrayed in literature, involves interactions between variables such as socioeconomic structures and institutions, and the personal characteristics of entrepreneurs such as their attitudes and motivations, (Atiase et al., 2018, p. 646). Drawing on Isenberg (2011), Igwe et al. (2020, p. 475) state that the EE model has six key elements, namely, policy, finance, culture, support, human capital and markets; further, they emphasize how factors such as the motivations, perspectives and family circumstances of entrepreneurs enrich interactions and play a vital role in creating a “healthy functioning EE”.

While elements of EE, such as those cited above, have the potential for universal application, the characterization and potential relevance of these elements will be determined contextually. For example, given the variations that exist across geographical contexts as to how families are defined and created, the criteria used to assess the impact of family circumstances on entrepreneurship is likely to vary from context to context, in relation to marriage traditions within extended families (Khavul et al., 2009; Ogunyomi & Casper, 2021). In the case of Africa, the important role of the family in various dimensions of entrepreneurship has been widely recognized. For example, George et al. (2016, p. 1118) state that, in the African context: “ … the stability of an individual’s family and social ties is likely to substantively influence his or her decision to engage in entrepreneurship”. Similarly, when referring to entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa, Murithi et al. (2020) contend that, within this specific context, the family as an institution: “ … drives business families’ engagement in institutional entrepreneurship”. This emphasis on the family in studies which explore entrepreneurship in Africa is relatively distinctive in that it contrasts with the firm-level analyses that predominantly feature in entrepreneurship research (Igwe et al., 2020).

Role of Women Entrepreneurs in Africa

In the case of Africa, the role of women involved in entrepreneurship has been widely acknowledged, especially with reference to their embeddedness in families, communities, and local associations (McDade & Spring, 2005; Spring & Rutashobya, 2009). Yet, despite the potential benefits of this embeddedness, it has been argued that women entrepreneurs in Africa are likely to experience acute constraints to their entrepreneurial activities due to prevailing value systems, which feature dominant patriarchal beliefs and gender stereotyping (Ribeiro et al., 2021). For example, it has been reported that the legitimacy of women entrepreneurs in Africa may be questioned by members of their family (including their spouses) and the wider community as a result of prevailing negative attitudes towards businesses owned and led by women (Ojong et al., 2021). Thus, in resource-scarce contexts in Africa, embeddedness in formal and informal networks, including the family may, through the manifestation of Ubuntu values, provide women entrepreneurs with access to resources such as finance, materials, equipment, and low-cost labor. Embeddedness, however, may also lead to constraints on entrepreneurial activities due to gender-based opposition and pressure to provide support, especially in the form of finance and employment, to other members of the family and the wider community (Ngoasong & Kimbu, 2019).

Entrepreneurship and Ubuntu

While recognizing that criticisms of Africa-wide models of management exist, it is evident that some culturally loaded values and philosophical concepts, which have the potential to affect profoundly understandings of entrepreneurship, are associated primarily and arguably almost exclusively with Africa. Ubuntu, referred to above, is a value-laden concept of Bantu origin, which is closely associated with family life in Africa (Anyango-Kivuva, 2012). When exploring this concept from a business and management perspective, Zondo (2022, pp. 121–122) translates Ubuntu as: “a person is a person because of or through others” (c.f. Fraser-Moleketi, 2009) and clarifies that Ubuntu: “ … is a spirit of humanness, caring and community harmony, hospitality, and mutual respect among individuals and groups” (Anyango-Kivuva, 2012, p. 120). In a similar vein, Ogunyemi et al. (2022, p. 160) describe Ubuntu as: “the capacity to express compassion, reciprocity, dignity harmony and humanity in the interests of building and maintaining community”. These humanitarian and community focused themes are also evident in the main dimensions of Ubuntu identified by Eyong (2019, p. 4), that is: “ … interdependence, people-orientation, closer affinity and humanity”.

Notably, the concept of Ubuntu has attracted attention in entrepreneurship research, though its influence over and within EE in specific African contexts remains drastically under-researched, leading to emergent questions about the nature of Ubuntu, its manifestations, and its prevalence across Africa. In their review of the core values of Ubuntu, Mangaliso et al. (2022, p. 1032) identify a consensus in literature towards embracing Ubuntu as a “Pan-African philosophy” which has the potential to benefit organizations in Africa. Yet, these same authors also acknowledge fundamental questions that have been raised about the: “ … characterization of Ubuntu as a Pan-African philosophy and its uniqueness to Africa” (Mangaliso et al., 2022, p. 1032). In adopting a more critical stance, Verhoef (2021, p. 422) has questioned whether Ubuntu can therefore be: “a coherent conceptual phenomenon capable of actually encompassing management practices in Africa” though we note that this position is highly contested. One strident rejoinder points to “rising support” for indigenous theories of African scholarship and the need to dispel any notion or implication that, to label Ubuntu as an African philosophy implies that: “ … its dimensions or practices are shared by all Africans or that it represents all nooks and crannies of, or voices and persuasions across, Africa” (Ibeh et al., 2022, p. 191). We highlight that authors have sought to demonstrate that values associated with Ubuntu and its variations are prevalent across Africa, for example, as expressed in indigenous African proverbs covering themes such as collective power, wellbeing and wisdom (Murithi, 2006; Thakhathi & Netshitangani, 2020).

What becomes relatively clear from these contributions is that further research is needed to explore Ubuntu in practice in order to add clarity to its conceptualization, practice and benefits in relation to entrepreneurship in Africa. Ibeh et al. (2022, p. 191) explicitly call for empirical evidence and case studies Eyong (2019) to assess the efficacy of Ubuntu on sustainable performance at organizational, individual or national levels in Africa. We concur with the words of Abebe et al. (2020, p. 149) who, after reviewing a body of organizational behavior/human resources, strategy, and entrepreneurship literature, state that: “ … more work needs to be done to sufficiently operationalize Ubuntu as a leadership concept and examine its contribution to employee and organizational outcomes in African countries above and beyond those of the Western leadership styles”.

African Entrepreneurship vs. Entrepreneurship in Africa

Having highlighted above that EEs in Africa are likely to involve context-specific elements relating to scarce resources, family structures, and values such as Ubuntu, it is noted that many authors in this field, included some of those cited above, have identified the scarcity of research centered upon EEs in Africa (see Atiase et al., 2018, p. 646; Igwe et al., 2020, p. 475). For example, Decker et al. (2020, p. 633) provide an enlightening discussion about the extent to which aspects of the institutional environment such as geography, colonial history and postcolonial history are affecting entrepreneurial growth aspirations in Angola, Ghana and Nigeria. One of the conclusions they draw from their analysis is the need for historical case studies to provide: “ … a rich set of insights on the deeply rooted, context-related factors of entrepreneurial aspirations”.

The need for analyses of entrepreneurship at the local level in the form of case studies has also been identified as a means of broadening understanding of the limitations of conceptualizing the whole of Africa as a single entity without recognizing the diverse histories, traditions and cultures that are prevalent across this continent. For example, in a critique which questions the assumption that there is an “African management model”, Verhoef (2021, p. 432) calls upon researchers to understand business in Africa by using dialogical methodology and engaging: “ … systematically in case studies of actual business operations” and in: “ … empirical work towards understanding how African businesses integrate the diversity of its business cultures into modern current-day successful enterprises”. The perceived need for case studies is entirely consistent with the call by Ratten and Jones (2018, p. 10) to bring Africa into entrepreneurship research and their observation that: “There is a difference in entrepreneurship in Africa and other parts of the world due to the cultural and historical factors”.

Summary of Literature Review

The literature review has highlighted a range of theory-driven topics which are directly associated with the main aim and objectives of this study. For example, the review has identified evidence of the proliferation of entrepreneurship across Africa despite the inherent challenges and risks attached to such activity. Further, the literature we reviewed emphasized that, despite their embeddedness in families, communities and local associations, women entrepreneurs in Africa are likely to experience overarching constraints on their entrepreneurial activities due to prevailing value systems, which feature dominant patriarchal beliefs and gender stereotyping. Given these challenges and risks, the review has drawn attention to the need to understand more about the motivational drivers which encourage individuals, especially women, towards entrepreneurial activity in Africa. Thus, while in general terms, entrepreneurial motivation in Africa can be attributed to opportunity and necessity (or push and pull factors), research into the mediating effects of psychological variables such as personality traits, appears to be in its infancy.

When synthesizing these topics, one of the main emergent themes that arises from the review above, is the importance of local contexts when seeking to gain insights into how entrepreneurship in Africa is both conceptualized and practiced. Thus, while entrepreneurship literature on Africa is extremely helpful is isolating critical overriding themes such as the entrepreneurial ecosystem, scarcity of resources, push and pull factors, values including Ubuntu, and family life, it also contains direct calls for case studies designed to inform understanding of entrepreneurship within specific local contexts. Case studies of this nature have the potential to generate insights both at the local levels but also, on a comparative basis, more widely by unearthing similarities and differences in entrepreneurship from local context to local context.

Subsequent sections of this paper seek to address the call for case studies by offering a case study centered upon a business founded by a woman entrepreneur of mixed-African heritage in Ghana. In the light of the literature review, the case is intended to address three main and non-discrete research questions. First, with reference to push and pull factors in this African context, what were the key push and pull factors which led the entrepreneur to establish the business? Second, with reference to the local entrepreneurial ecosystem, what were the main resource-based challenges the entrepreneur faced in establishing, maintaining and growing the business? Third, with reference to the prevailing values in this context, what was the entrepreneur’s perception of the business performance and its contribution to the community?

Methodology

In order to address the research questions presented above, a single case study idiographic approach using an ethnographic qualitative dynamic inquiry was applied to explore an entrepreneur’s experiences (Luthans & Davis, 1982; Sadeh & Zion, 2009). In encouraging the entrepreneur to reflect over time about her own background, lived experiences, and role in her cultural context, our approach to methodology also has resonances with the types of autoethnographic approaches which are rising to prominence in African studies (Mara & Thompson, 2022). The ethnographic methodology underscores and accentuates flexibility and critical thinking during acquisition of data and knowledge. It sees acquisition of knowledge, especially during research, as a process that is likely to change during data collection (Sadeh & Zion, 2009). Ozcan et al. (2017, p. 95) state that: “ … single cases are ideal for investigating complex social processes” and for examining “ … how and why things emerge, develop, grow, or terminate over time” (c.f. Langley et al., 2013, p. 1). Therefore, this approach was deemed appropriate to provide insights into the entrepreneur’s relationships with her business associates, her values-driven behaviors, the processes she went through to start the business, the challenges she faced when seeking to grow the business, the survival and growth strategies she implemented, and the self-perceived outcomes she achieved. The approach we adopted helped to capture several moods of the entrepreneur, the history surrounding the founding and establishment of her business, and the overall health of the business as seen by the entrepreneur owner. Following consideration of factors such as the professional status of the participants and the non-sensitive nature of the topic area, the research was assessed by the authors’ institution as not requiring formal ethical approval Data gathering was, nevertheless, conducted using established ethics procedures relating to issues such as voluntary participation and informed consent.

The single case study inquiry took place over a period of 18 months. Data were gathered using a series of formal structured interviews, informal interviews, discussions, observations, and conversations designed to shed light on the decision-making and actions of the entrepreneur as she managed a small business enterprise in Ghana. Initially, structured interview questions were used to investigate the motivation for setting up the business, the challenges faced in running the business, the cultural influences, the performance of the business, the perceived factors that led to the performance outcomes, and the contribution of the business to the community. Later, informal discussions and conversations with the entrepreneur took place over several months to understand further the mindset of the entrepreneur and how she saw the business and her future plans. When analyzing data, we were guided by the main themes to emerge from the literature review. These themes, such as push and pull factors, availability of resources in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and the perceived contribution of the business to the context, were used to group the data and also helped to structure the findings section of the study presented below.

Findings

Background

In 2020, a young, single, Guinean woman entrepreneur of mixed African heritage founded the case study company, which she called Kyekye Daakye (a pseudonym). The company is located and registered in Accra, the capital city of Ghana. Ghana is a former British colony, which was called Gold Coast due to the huge deposits of gold that the British exploited during its colonization of the country (Owusu-Ansah, 2014). Ghana has been and still is one of the most attractive economies in Africa due to its commercial history, ancient Kingdom of Akan, and stable government (Tsikata, 2000). Ghana is also used as a hub by investors to penetrate West African markets and beyond). These conditions provide fertile opportunities for businesses like Kyekye Daakye to attract local and international customers. Ghana’s relatively good infrastructure and low crime are conducive to tourism and other aspects of the service industry.

Prior to its establishment, the history of business is best described as an idea that was in incubation for more than a decade during which time the founder was working in the service industry. This incubation period culminated in the formal registration of the company in 2020. The founder leveraged her experience as an employee for various organizations to set up a company that offers diversified services related to her experience in different sectors of the service industry. For example, when asked about the services the company offers, she responded: “I started with different services based on my experience because I used to work at the travel agency. Then I added visa application because I used to work at Danish embassy”.

The core business of the company is the provision of lifestyle management services. This focus is described in marketing literature as follows:

An innovative and professional concierge service that offers the best of the best to its clients. We are the answer to enjoy the very best Africa has to offer and beyond. The company offers its services using human resources and information communication technologies (ICT).

Over time, the services provided by the company diversified into areas such as events management, VIP travel management, healthcare services, business consulting, unique experiences, and real estate management. Despite this diversification of the business, the company’s business model and its use of ICT enables it to operate with only three staff including the owner operator.

Push and Pull Factors Which led the Entrepreneur to Establish the Business

It is noteworthy that, during the interviews, it emerged that the initial intention of the founder was to set up the business and run it as a sole proprietor as this would have given the entrepreneur complete control over the financial and strategic direction of the company. Due, however, to a regulatory requirement in Ghana at the time, she was required to pay 500,000 Ghanaian Cedis as a fee to register the company. Owing to this financial requirement, she was forced to seek out a local individual to invest in the company to enable her to register the company. They split the registration fee by each paying 50% of the fee. In effect, the company now has two principal shareholders but is run solely by the founder.

The interviews and conversations with the entrepreneur revealed that the business came into being due to the unique background of the entrepreneur herself. Its diversification, however, offers very interesting perspectives for those looking to understand start-ups in Africa and the associated push and pull factors, especially in the service sector. During the interviews with the founder, it became clear she used what Henry Mintzberg called an “emergent strategy” (Mintzberg & Waters, 1985). That is, during our conversations with the founder, she explained how she uses opportunities that come her way to launch new lines of service and engage in diversification. In other words, challenges or problems are seen by the entrepreneur as potential opportunities for another line of service to be provided to customers. Hence, as highlighted above, the business is diversified into many sectors of the service industry including health, travel, business consulting, and events management. These services are primarily targeted at corporate clients. The founder seems to fit the mold of the classic entrepreneur that has no fear and can bulldoze their way into any market in the attempt to be different to their competitors. In fact, research evidence suggests that a relationship exists between a company’s strategy and the characteristics of its managers (Thomas & Ramaswamy, 1996). We note that researchers have also reported that businesses that are able to align their strategy with the characteristics of their managers are more likely to achieve their objectives (Thomas & Ramaswamy, 1996).

The case study data reveals the extent to which the story of the company is built on the disposition and values of the founder. For example, the company started when the founder quit her job and immigrated to Ghana, a country where no members of her immediate family were living. Her decision to leave her family and relatively secure employment and then start a company, provides a classic operational example of the definition of entrepreneurship discussed above, especially with reference to “assumed risks and rewards”. The decision also supports some of the research findings summarized above which link successful entrepreneurship with a strong sense of self-efficacy She narrated how she stumbled on an entrepreneurial idea as a result of terrible customer service experience at a bank. In her words: “I used the experience to start a company that will solve business problems for clients”. The case analysis also reveals another feature of the disposition of this young women entrepreneur, that is, the resilience and persistence she displayed as she went hunting for a job. Again, in her words: “I kept applying for jobs. I sent 50 applications daily, but I did not receive replies”. Interestingly, she did not attribute blame or even provide a contextualized explanation for the lack of success she experienced with her job hunting.

When asked specifically about her disposition, the entrepreneur chose to focus on her interactions with others. During one interview, she said she had been a friendly person since she was a child. She recalled that her mother, having noted her child’s willingness to speak to anyone, regularly used to tell the young entrepreneur that, if she was not careful, she would be “kidnapped by strangers”. During the interview, she traced this gregarious childhood behavior into her adulthood role as an entrepreneur, noting that she does not like to engage in any tasks that prevent her from interacting with customers.

Resources and the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in This Context

While the disposition of an entrepreneur can be a critical factor in the performance of a business, so too is access to both tangible and intangible resources (García-Cabrera et al., 2019; Khan, 2018). Two of the most important intangible resources which an entrepreneur can use to establish and develop a business are cultural resources (Companys & McMullen, 2007) and social resources, commonly referred to as social capital (Hernández-Carrión et al., 2017). In this case study, the entrepreneur’s cultural and social resources played an important role in the company’s performance. For example, on the issue of cultural resources, when asked if her cultural background had impacted on her business, she responded as follows:

I am glad you asked me this question. I deliberately chose to set up the business in West Africa because of my African background. I use my mix African background and African culture in my business. For example, a company contacted me to help them buy a farm in Senegal. Given my cultural background, I taught them how to interact with the local community. I taught them how to behave when they enter their houses, like removing their shoes before they enter. I also taught them to behave culturally in Ghana. I don’t do it because I want to attract business but because this is who I am. I am African. However, I found out this helps my business as well.

Thus, in this case, the entrepreneur’s knowledge of Ghanaian culture helped her to obtain clients and serve them appropriately. Further, her mixed heritage, partly African and partly French enabled her to navigate and leverage French and European cultures using, for example, her ability to speak French fluently. The second important intangible resource that can influence company performance is social capital which provides access to other resources and customers (Chen et al., 2007). This is particularly the case with women entrepreneurs (Ndemo & Maina, 2007). In this case, the evidence indicates that the entrepreneur had access to an extensive network, which she had strived to develop from her previous employment and clients.

The entrepreneur was specifically asked about the importance of access to financial resources to her business. She responded as follows:

Financial resources are the major thing because if you don’t have financial resources, you cannot operate the business. But the thing for me at the moment is I am really struggling with it. Even my accountant was surprised at how I am coping with the financial resources I have. He asked me how I am managing to run this company with these figures. I replied to him that I am managing. I have to manage the way I can.

The entrepreneur’s responses confirmed her view that access to financial resources was critical to her ability to start and expand the business. However, in keeping with EE theory, she also identified other enabling and restraining factors in the institutional environment. For example, when asked about the challenges of the business environment in general terms, the entrepreneur responded in the following way:

It is the current situation. The fact the value of Ghanaian Cedi has decreased, petrol price has increased, no business now, people are not spending money. The business of Kyekye Daakye is based on “you want to do something, but you don’t have time to do it.” So, you call Kyekye Daakye to do it for you. I will do it for you, and I give all the receipts you pay based on the receipts. Then you pay me for my services which is not small money. Now the fact that people are in this situation, they’d rather do it themselves instead of saying I will call Kyekye Daakye to do it for me which is very expensive because I have to pay for the ticket and pay for her services as well. So, I rather go online and do it myself because I do not have enough money.

In addition to the national economic climate, she also raised issues relating to, what she perceived to be, the difference between stated government policies designed to enable entrepreneurship and the reality of these policies when enacted in her local context. For example, she made the following observation:

When I was doing my Master’s dissertation in international business in Paris, the topic of my dissertation was “Ghana, the best place to do business in Africa”. When I came back to Ghana and tried to start a business, I realized that Ghana is very good in marketing the country. I collected 50 brochures on doing business in Ghana. If you read them, you will say I will go to Ghana and start a business. When I tried to get facilitation on how to start a business, I could not get it. It was very difficult because when I went to the agency promoting investment in Ghana, I could not get to see someone like a manager who could help me. I was stopped by a receptionist who gave me a file and some documents and asked me to do this and do that. When I asked what I could do after that, they were not helpful. I had to go to friends who told me what they did when they were trying to open a company. That was the help I got.

When asked if her experience would be different for big companies, she replied:

I don’t think the experience of big companies is any different. In fact, this is why I created another service in my company. I help big companies who want to start a business in Ghana. I help them to do the paperwork and get the license to operate in Ghana.

From this interview data, we conclude that, although there was no evidence of obvious institutional barriers to business activities in policy terms, the implementation of institutional policies in the local context acted as a constraint on to effective performance.

Entrepreneur’s Perception of Profitability, Growth and Contribution

Other factors relating to the entrepreneurial ecosystem were discussed during the interviews and conversations. For example, when asked about grants to support the company, the founder said she was not aware of any government grants for business especially during COVID-19 pandemic. She said: “I have not heard of anything like that in Ghana”. This suggests that financial investment in the company was dependent on her personal income sources. When asked specifically about taxation, she stated her view that “taxation is high” though chose not to elaborate further.

During the interview, we also sought to explore how well the entrepreneur felt the company was performing financially. She responded in the following way:

When I started, the income was growing. But from March 2021, money was not coming in. Even though COVID-19 services were my main engagement, I was also doing consulting for commercial Banks. I also started doing customer service training for companies. That was making money. The Real Estate is once in a while. The travel was also doing well even though it was not high return because I was not the one issuing the tickets. From February 2022, the business started going down. My phone doesn’t ring now as it used to. When I talk to people, they say it is not only you. Now the situation in Ghana is very difficult. Everything is on standby. So, for the moment, the business has gone down.

The above quotation is clearly the entrepreneur’s subjective assessment of the financial performance of the company. Given the scenario of the pandemic, we did not seek financial data to corroborate her assessment of the company. Rather, we explored how she had reacted to the economic downturn in the business environment in Ghana and around the world. She explained her reaction as follows:

What I created is another service for foreigners. I went to Abidjan as a consultant to open a company for another foreign company. They were paying me weekly. They pay for my ticket and accommodation. I got another consultancy to open another company in Senegal for a German company. That helped me to address the difficulties the company is facing. What I got from the two consultancies is more than six months revenue I usually get.

This response from the founder provides further insights into her behavior as an entrepreneur. That is, successful entrepreneurs thrive when challenged by difficult circumstances because it is the challenges that pushed or pulled them into the business in the first place (Amit & Muller, 1995; Fisher et al., 2016). In this case, the founder started the business during difficult times and was able to provide examples of positively responding to challenges after the business was established.

Perceived Contribution of the Business to the Community

In the light of the literature review and research questions, we also investigated how the entrepreneur would describe the overall contribution of her business to the community. Her response to this line of enquiry included the following statement:

I provide training to companies, but I do that when I get a sponsor. For example, I plan to organise networking events for oil and gas companies so that they can come and discuss all the challenges they are facing at this critical time. I also intend to invite the minister to come to the event at least to come and pour cold water in their hearts and say everything will be fine because we are doing this and we are doing that. But the event did not take place because the sponsors pulled out.

Interestingly, this statement indicates that the entrepreneur felt the business could, hypothetically, make an important contribution to the local community by facilitating networking events which bring together stakeholders such as politicians (Pallangyo & Rees, 2010), company directors, and local community leaders. However, the issue of resources was again raised by the entrepreneur as a factor which constrained the potential contribution of her business to act in a socially responsible manner.

Writing specifically about Ghana in this journal, Darley and Blankson (2020, p. 78) stated that: “Ghanaians, like sub-Saharan Africans … depend on and provide support to one another, offering guidance and behavioral modeling for younger members”. To explore this issue further, we asked the founder to tell us what she considers to be the main community-based contribution of the business. In response to this question, she started by saying “My passion is to help people”. It is noteworthy that, without further direction, she then narrated the story of a young man whose plight was posted on the social media platform, LinkedIn:

I saw a social media post by a lady where a young boy is looking for a job to feed himself. I read comments but nobody offered a solution to the boy. They were all sympathizing with the boy but did not point to a direction where he can get a job. The boy had no accommodation. He sleeps rough in the streets of Accra. So, I called the boy’s number and he answered me and told me his story. I asked him his qualification but unfortunately the boy had no educational qualification at the level that I can recommend him to employers. Therefore, I decided to speak to one of my professional contacts who I work with in the Real Estate Management arm of my business. He agreed to take him. However, he said he had to let him go because his business is not doing well. The amount he receives from his clients is not enough to pay the boy. So, I decided to contact another business associate who is based in Wa, which is outside Accra. The boy agreed to move to Wa to work with the man.

This touching story encapsulates her sense of responsibility towards members of her community and supports. In helping the young boy, she exemplified values traditionally associated with Ubuntu by engaging in activities which were not solely based on economic transactions. As she puts it:

If I can do this for this boy, it means I can do it for other young people that are not educated and are struggling without a job. So, my ambition is to get funding to get 10 or 20 people to give them training and after that, help them to get a job. My ambition is not to make a lot of money. I am not looking to be rich. It has never been my ambition as long as I can help people. Financially, I can survive on what I have.

During subsequent interviews and conversations with the entrepreneur, it became evident that, when being asked about the overall contribution of her business, she prioritized people. For example, when we pursued this theme with her, she ventured into the area of HR recruitment using the following example:

The first person I hired had no experience. I thought I should give her experience. This is based on my experience when I graduated and couldn’t find a job and nobody was willing to give me the opportunity. So, I thought I should help her. The second person was more experienced. He is a professional. He does all the management. He was good at what he was doing. They all have their positions. The man was there for management and the lady was there as an assistant. She makes appointments and organizes conferences and galas. Yes, they helped because we were very busy.

These statements highlight the value the entrepreneur placed on the contribution of her business to local employment. In the same vein, she proceeded to explain how problems with family commitments and the local transport system often led her employees to arrive late for work. These problems resulted in the founder herself getting involved in the delivery of medical services. In essence, the interview data revealed that day-to-day decisions of the entrepreneur were influenced by certain values of compassion for others. In other words, there are traces of Ubuntu values in the decisions she was making in areas such as the hiring and management of her staff. Thus, her decision to hire the inexperienced employee was not only guided by her need for a member of staff, but also by the principle of compassion to fellow humans who need help to get on in life. This decision also supports her comments about the company’s mission and vision being connected to helping others.

Discussion Points and Conclusions

The main aim of this study is to explore aspects of entrepreneurs’ motivation and perceptions with reference to prevailing values in a given context in Africa. In order to address this aim, we have sought to answer calls for contextualized case studies into entrepreneurship in Africa. Following a review of relevant literature, our analysis was centered on three research questions. First, in relation to push and pull factors, the findings from the case study revealed the existence of a range of factors which encouraged the entrepreneur to establish a business and then develop it through various diversification strategies. The findings do offer support to established push and pull theories of entrepreneurship in Africa (Amit & Muller, 1995; Nyame-Asiamah et al., 2020). However, exploring this case study from a localized context has also identified another angle from which to interpret the concept of push and pull within the context of Africa more generally. That is, in this case, the entrepreneur’s aspiration was to find work, any work, which would fit with her individual characteristics such as gregariousness and her desire to help others. For example, if she had successfully found a job that fitted her personality traits, she might not have opened a business. Thus, the finding calls for further research into the previously discussed notion of “necessity” entrepreneurs (Giacomin et al., 2011; Shane, 2010) as “necessity” with reference to Africa has traditionally been linked to financial and employment considerations as opposed to altruistic and dispositional motivations. Therefore, the case study raises a series of further questions. How many of the entrepreneurs in Africa have a similar motivational outlook to the entrepreneur in this case study? Are policymakers and development partners aware of such entrepreneurs with start-up aspirations linked to psychological variables and community-focused values rather than primarily economic and employment concerns? How do such motivations fit with stated government economic policies in African countries? How well do these policies recognize the values encapsulated by Ubuntu?

Second, the investigation has provided evidence from a local context about how the performance of a business, particularly a new business, is significantly influenced by certain business and economic environmental factors. This corroborates similar findings elsewhere about EE generally and in Africa specifically. (Commander & Svejnar, 2011; Robert-Baum & Wally, 2003). In this case, the business went through a very difficult time because of the global and local economic situation largely brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. As such, the case study reveals the extent to which globalization is a palpable phenomenon even for small businesses opened by entrepreneurs in Africa. This has practical implications for policy making by government as well as for the entrepreneur. For the former, how can government support small businesses at the time of a major economic crisis? For entrepreneurs, how can they respond to a major economic crisis given the limited resources at their disposal? Further research is needed to explore the types of small businesses in Africa that are more likely to be affected by global and local economic crises. What are the implications for policy making and the entrepreneur? Are entrepreneurs aware of their vulnerability to global economic crisis?

Third, the case study highlighted ways in which entrepreneurs may view the contribution of their businesses to local contexts with reference to a range of interacting factors (Yeboah-Assiamah et al., 2023). This case study provides evidence that there are entrepreneurs in Africa who have a desire to create social wealth and want their businesses to provide more than employment and financial rewards chiefly for themselves (Amaeshi & Idemudia, 2015). By definition, such entrepreneurs, driven for example by Ubuntu values, are more likely to be motivated to address issues of poverty, unemployment and community harmony in their local contexts than entrepreneurs who are primarily motivated by rational-economic factors. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that developed countries in Europe and the North American could not rely on economic rationalism to address their challenges. Given the themes which emerged from this study, it is to be hoped that policymakers in Africa and their development partners do not hold unswervingly to the belief that rational-economic policies are the universal solution to Africa’s socioeconomic challenges.

Acknowledgement

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 823744.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Horizon 2020: [Grant Number 823744]; Horizon 2020 Framework Programme: [Grant Number 823744].

Notes on contributors

Christopher J. Rees

Christopher J. Rees (PhD) is a Reader in Human Resources and Organisational Change at the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester, UK, and Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences & Humanities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. He is a Chartered Psychologist and Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development. Dr. Rees is an editor of the European Management Review. His publications and research interests are primarily focused on HRM, organisational change, and employee behavior as theorized and practiced in a variety of international settings.

Irene Okhade

Irene Okhade (PhD) is a lecturer in Human Resource Management and International Development at the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester, UK. Her scholarly work, which addresses pivotal issues in sub – Saharan Africa has featured in leading academic journals such as the Review of African Political Economy. Dr. Okhade has presented her research at numerous international platforms, including the American Society of Mechanical Engineers International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition and the American Society for Public Administration conference.

Kate E. Rowlands

Kate E. Rowlands (PhD) is a Reader at the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester, UK. Dr. Rowland’s research is focused on Human Resource Management and in particular the transferral of practices between multinational organizations and emerging economy settings. She has published in reputable journals, including the Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, Journal of Public Administration and Development, International Journal of Teaching and Case Studies and the International Journal of Management and Applied Research.