Africa’s Competitiveness in the Global Economy: Past, Present and Future

Adeleye, Ifedapo; Amankwah‐Amoah, Joseph; Boso, Nathaniel; Esposito, Mark

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-67014-0_1

Cited by 15 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…The result of H1 revealed a positive, significant relationship between SMEs competitive advantage and the internationalization strategy to achieve competitive performance. The finding aligns with that of Adeleye and Esposito (2018) whose results reveal that most Nigerian firms tend to adopt the Uppsala model compared to the born global strategy. Nigerian firms are more receptive towards incremental, and sequential approach in regional internationalization.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

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Prospects and challenges of entrepreneurship internationalization on the competitiveness of SMEs

Olaore

Adejare

Udofia

2020

APJIE

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Purpose Global presence pursuit by Nigerian firms has increased the inquiry into internationalization. While a few implement regional presence, the pros and cons of full internationalization are evaluated. Giving the scarce empirical research, this paper aims to add to scholarly works and knowledge on internationalization and establish regional internationalization as the feasible option for Nigerian firms. Design/methodology/approach Random and stratified sampling techniques were used. Data collection was conducted with questionnaire copies and analyzed with confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation model. Findings Internationalization strategy enhances small and medium enterprises (SME’s) competitive advantage, and full internationalization seems unrealistic for Nigerian firms; however, regional internationalization is the bedrock for full internationalization. Finally, the nature of the Nigerian business environment developed an increased value creation process in SMEs through increased flexibility and problem-solving abilities. Practical implications SMEs should internationalize partially, and critically evaluate socio-cultural and institutional environmental challenges in this study, to enable them to strategize for full internationalization. Originality/value The study demonstrates that the only way to fast track the internationalization drive of SME’s in Nigeria is first to embrace regional internationalization because it is difficult to achieve full internationalization at a go. Then, apply appropriate strategies to embrace full internationalization in the nearest future.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…Citing a sense of premature satisfaction at the regional level. Perhaps, because regional is easier than global internationalization (Adeleye and Esposito, 2018). Secondly, socio-cultural factors positively affect SMEs' competitive performance in the home country due to the foreign alliance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prospects and challenges of entrepreneurship internationalization on the competitiveness of SMEs

Olaore

Adejare

Udofia

2020

APJIE

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“…This growth was fueled in part by a significant increase in foreign investment in the region-roughly 30 times the investment in 1985 (Africa Investment Report, 2016). Despite the growing importance of Africa in the world economy (Amankwah-Amoah et al, 2018;Adeleye et al, 2018), African firms lag behind other regions in international trade and investment flows (Ibeh et al, 2012). Differences in countries and industries condition African firms' exporting capacity (Grenier et al, 1999;Söderbom and Teal, 2003) and, some liabilities are shared across the continent.…”

Section: Context and Data Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge management competences, exporting and productivity: uncovering African paradoxes

Vendrell‐Herrero

Darko

Ghauri

2019

JKM

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Purpose This study aims to investigate the importance of relational and conditional knowledge by assessing how service and signaling competences affect manufacturing firms’ productivity. These relationships are explored in the context of Africa, where, paradoxically, firms selling abroad must satisfy different market demands than firms that serve only domestic markets. Design/methodology/approach The authors draw on the World Bank Enterprise Survey to perform a cross-sectional analysis of 4,683 manufacturing firms. These surveys cover the period 2009-2017 and 35 different African countries. The authors define service competence development as co-location with knowledge-intensive business service (KIBS) firms, measured through KIBS density at city level. Signaling is measured through outward-looking competences. Findings This paper shows that African exporters differ significantly from their non-exporting counterparts in terms of productivity and competences. External service competence generates productivity gains for exporters but has the opposite effect for non-exporters. Results consistent with previous research also show that signaling competences generate productivity gains, but the effect for firms serving domestic markets is stronger than the effect for exporting firms. The authors use paradoxes of learning to interpret these results. Research limitations/implications This study detects nuances of the African context that increase the understanding of knowledge management in emerging markets. The findings would benefit from confirmation in a longitudinal and causal setting. Practical implications African exporting firms should establish mechanisms to develop joint knowledge with external partners (know-with) to enhance their competitiveness, whereas African non-exporters should prioritize building knowledge credibility. Originality/value The study develops a novel empirical approach to analyzing firm competences in Africa. It also shows that contextualization of existing knowledge management theories matters, opening a research avenue to test further existing theories in emerging economies.

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“…It is generally known that the issue of global competitiveness and globalization remain challenging for African firms, whether at national and corporate levels (Adeleye & Esposito 2018). If we consider the firm lever, there are some basic obstacles to African competitiveness such as infrastructure, regulations and regulations (Newman et al 2016).…”

Section: Challenges Of African Smesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Internationalization of African SMEs: Context, Trends and Challenges

Guili

2018

SSRN Journal

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There has been an important increase in the international and inter-continental operations of African SMEs over the last decade, because of the emergence of regional "champions", able to compete with foreign multinationals, present in the continent since many decades, but also because of the emergence of innovative and creative SMEs, capable to meet the market needs of various consumers of Africa. Understanding the particular international business landscape in Africa draws attention to several ignored research questions and research aspects, requiring further research and exploration, to contextualize the SMEs' internationalization of African firms. This paper highlights relevant areas/aspects needed while studying the internationalization of SMEs, by bringing back the historical context of the continent. Next, this paper contributes to the understanding of the internationalization of African SMEs by analyzing the trends and opportunities of the research in this field. Finally, the challenges and the risks of the internationalization of African firms will be analyzed, in order to set the limits of the nature of internationalization of the continent's SMEs.

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Africa’s Competitiveness in the Global Economy: Past, Present and Future

Cited by 15 publications

References 24 publications

Prospects and challenges of entrepreneurship internationalization on the competitiveness of SMEs

Prospects and challenges of entrepreneurship internationalization on the competitiveness of SMEs

Knowledge management competences, exporting and productivity: uncovering African paradoxes

Internationalization of African SMEs: Context, Trends and Challenges

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