Revitalising serial entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa: insights from a newly emerging economy

Abstract

In light of the growing national priority to develop and revitalise entrepreneurship in emerging economies, our understanding of barriers to serial entrepreneurship (SE) in such a context warrants further scholarly attention. Using insights from Ghana, an integrated framework of endogenous and exogenous barriers to SE is advanced. The study identified factors such as stigmatisation of business failure, fear of failure, successive governments' suspicion of the private sector and lack of a clear national policy as barriers to the development of SE. By creating conditions for destigmatising of failure, countries would be able to create conditions for more serial entrepreneurs to emerge and flourish. The analysis also indicates that reinvigorating entrepreneurship by providing space and opportunity for failed entrepreneurs to re-emerge would enable such countries to enhance entrepreneurial activities and improve economic development. The implications for technology analysis and strategic entrepreneurship literature are identified and examined.

The tangled historical roots of entrepreneurial growth aspirations

“…This may create a virtuous circle of dynamic entrepreneurship and social support for it (see Arora & Gambardella, 2006, on India). By witnessing others achieving successful entrepreneurial careers, HGAE is fuelled in both Nigeria and Ghana (Amankwah‐Amoah, 2018; McDade & Spring, 2005; The Economist, 2012).…”

Dissecting the ecosystems’ determinants of entrepreneurial re-entry after a business failure

“…Second, the analysis of informal conditions revealed social media's critical contribution for legitimizing entrepreneurship and supporting those entrepreneurs who want to re-enter the domestic or international market after a business failure (Lafuente et al, 2019). Consequently, the social perception of entrepreneurship as a career or societal status also plays a critical role in reducing the failure stigma in society (Simmons et al, 2014;2018). Third, social networks built during previous business angels, entrepreneurial experiences, or other entrepreneurs also play a crucial role for re-entrepreneurs.…”

“…Similar difficulties face re-entry studies, particularly in the context of emerging economies (Koçak et al, 2010;Amankwah-Amoah, 2018). Given this phenomenon's nature, this study adopts a panel data analysis designed to identify re-entries' determinants and patterns across different economies.…”

Business Failures around the World: Emerging Trends and New Research Agenda

“…On the other side, the voluntaristic school contends that business failure is attributed to firm-specific factors such as mismanagement, corrupt management practices, poor leadership and decision-making processes (Amankwah-Amoah & Debrah, 2010, 2014; Amankwah-Amoah & Zhang, 2015aZhang, , 2015bAmankwah-Amoah et al, 2018a, 2018b. By withstanding the pressures to innovate to respond to competitive or external pressures, organisations are more likely to plant the seeds to their collapse.…”

“…By developing a mechanism to learn from how and why the business failed, entrepreneurs develop difficult-to-imitate or teach valuable lessons, which can be utilized in successive new ventures (Howell, 2018). Nevertheless, past studies indicate that fear of failure and stigma surrounding failure in many societies around the globe often hamper not only learning from failure, but also entrepreneurship (see Amankwah-Amoah, 2018b;Simmons et al, 2014;Shepherd & Haynie, 2011).…”