For this paper we investigated refugee entrepreneurship in the Dadaab refugee camps, Kenya, a place where humanitarian aid practices and domestic legislation impede entrepreneurship, yet hundreds of new ventures have been established by refugees. The analysis finds that refugee camp entrepreneurs erode formal institutions, recombine conducive aspects of both formal and informal institutions, and exploit the advantages of institutional misalignment. We explain how entrepreneurs strategically maintain rather than overcome institutional misalignment for venture creation. Second, we show how self-determination, rather than mere subsistence or necessity, is an important yet often overlooked motivator for entrepreneurship in low and lower middle-income contexts.

We examine an organizational form that has received little attention despite its social significancethe refugee camp. From an in-depth case study of the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya we explain how these organizations maintain social stability even though refugees live for decades in them and are deprived of the freedom to move or work outside the camp's boundaries. Our analysis finds that refugee camps are characterized by a parallel organizational structure in which the institutional worlds of (primarily Western) camp officials and (in our case, primarily Somali) refugees coexist. Mutual dependence between camp officials and refugees enables the use of a respected space of reciprocal tolerance and minimal intrusion, and a listening post that is perceived as a legitimate communication arrangement and that acts as a safety valve. These complementary mechanisms provide the means by which to allay the otherwise high potential of severe discontent.

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Why has the creation of technology start-ups in Nairobi remained so challenging—despite support from growing numbers of motivated entrepreneurs, innovation hubs, and interested seed-capital investors?We took an in-depth look at a case study in Nairobi and discovered that because of technology entrepreneurship’s relative novelty, the key actors’ perspectives on the processes and practices associated with it are not yet aligned.The results were that the actors’ social interactions are marked by contradictions, divergences, and ambiguities that have hampered the creation of successful technology businesses in region.In this chapter, we will explore the challenges faced by today’s new forms of entrepreneurial activity in Kenya—and how to overcome them.