The informal sector employs the major part of workers in developing countries. Street trading is a common form of informal work. Despite its huge economic value in developing countries, little research is being done to improve street traders' empowerment and entrepreneurship. Also, development informatics is over-focused on social development and under-focused on economic development. This study takes a design science research (DSR) approach in order to identify barriers for street traders in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, that can be addressed with technology. As a follow-up to our previous qualitative study, a questionnaire was administered to a sample of (N = 285) street traders. The data was analysed using mixed methods. The results show that street traders operate in a challenging environment, and make most of their decisions based on tacit knowledge. Traders are restrained by unreliable business information, weak business strategies, and access to capital. A variety of technology innovations, such as customer-client matchmaking, and record keeping are proposed to directly address the daily challenges of street traders. Future technology projects form exciting possibilities for technology experts, students, and scholars globally. The expected future implications of this project are increased STI capacities, economic growth, and human development.

Purpose This study aims to investigate the gratifications driving the attitude and continuance use of mobile payment services in developing country context, such as Ghana. Also, the moderating effect of income and education on gratifications and attitude of users is explored. Design/methodology/approach Data was collected from conveniently sampled 361 users of mobile payment services in Ghana. A questionnaire, which mainly contains five-point Likert scale questions, was used to collect the data. The study adopted the Uses and Gratification (U&G) theory, where income and education were used as moderating factors. The data was analysed with SmartPLS for Structural Equation Modelling. Findings Among the other factors from the U&G theory, integrative, ease of use and usefulness gratifications were found to significantly influence attitude towards the use of mobile payment services in Ghana. In addition to this finding, user attitude significantly influences the continuance use intention of mobile payment services. Furthermore, the study revealed various effects of the moderating factors. These findings suggest that promoting mobile payment technology inclusiveness by creating a favourable environment would enhance the use of mobile payment services in Ghana. Research limitations/implications Given that this study was conducted in Ghana, a developing country, it is difficult to generalize the results to encompass the developed economies. In future, similar research should compare the developed and developing economies by considering culture as a moderating effect. Practical implications This study intends to provide information on the gratifications that drive the attitude and continuance use of mobile payment services in Ghana. The findings seek to augment mobile money service providers’ capabilities by providing them with an understanding of user gratification experience on mobile payment services. Additionally, the study will serve as a guide to policymakers in the government, telecommunication companies and mobile banking providers, to improve customer intimacy and gratification through their user behaviour. Originality/value Previous studies on user gratification have primarily focussed on the functional benefits derived from mobile payments and how they influence the service’s adoption. This study has contributed to literature by considering both the functional and non-functional benefits of mobile payment in developing country context. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to consider income and education as moderating variables to study the gratification levels of mobile payment users in Ghana and among few in Africa.

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This study investigates the concept of the digital transformation process and related capability implications for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in developing economies. A qualitative exploratory study was conducted, involving eight SMEs on an e-commerce platform in Ghana. The findings show that digital transformation among SMEs follows a four-stage process of digital technology initiation, changes to functions and processes, management of the resulting skills gap, and a strategic shift, which is also driven by managerial cognition, social capital development, human capital development, and organizational capacity building. These findings resulted in an inductively-derived process framework for the digital transformation of SMEs that expands the knowledge and understanding of digital transformation for SMEs. The study also provides users of digital platforms with dynamic managerial capability strategies for achieving digital transformation and effective e-commerce platform utilization in developing economies, which are essential for research, practice, and policy.