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This paper contributes to ongoing work which seeks to bring together the national innovation systems and global value chain literature for the study of economic development. We depart from the view that such a new combination will be helpful both in enhancing the understanding of socioeconomic processes in developing countries and in building a more useful knowledge base for action. To this aim, we combine bibliometric analysis with a qualitative review of work from both bodies of literature. The purpose is to inform a research agenda suited for policy-relevant studies of economic development in the global economy.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the changing pattern and characteristics of international financial flows in the emerging entrepreneurial ecosystems of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), provide a novel taxonomy to classify and analyze them, and discuss how such investments contribute to competence building and sustainable development. Design/methodology/approach In an exploratory study, the authors analyze the characteristics of international venture capital investors and the start-ups receiving funding in Kenya and map their interaction. The authors proceed by developing a novel taxonomy, classifying investors according to their main rationales (for-profit-for-impact), and start-ups according to the locus of needs and markets addressed by the start-up (local-global) and the locus of the start-ups capacity and knowledge (local-global). Findings The authors observe a new type of mainly western investors who support innovative ideas in SSA by identifying and investing in domestically developed technical innovations with the potential to address global market needs. The authors find such innovations to be mainly developed at the intersect of global and local knowledge. Originality/value The authors shed light on the – up to now – under-researched emerging phenomenon of international high-tech investments in SSA, and develop a novel taxonomy of technology investments in low-income countries, guiding further research on the conditions, impact, practical, and policy implications of this new form of finance flows.

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