Studies of internationalisation have largely overlooked developing countries with high levels of legitimate
informal entrepreneurship. Consequently, this article analyses the internationalisation of Informal
African Firms (IAFs) from a network perspective. We undertook in-depth case studies of 14 informal
smaller firms in two major enterprise clusters in Ghana. Our findings show that half transacted business
in five to seven foreign markets, and more than half sold abroad within three years of inception.
The study illustrates the different network ties that influence passive and active internationalisation
strategies with evidence that these IAFs developed buyer networks through customer referrals and
foreign customer walk-ins to the firm. Overall, we provide a comprehensive understanding of the triggers
that initiate international business activities by IAFs so contribute to current theorising noting implications
for management practices and policymaking on this important but hitherto, under-explored issue.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:87887 |
| Date | 03 November 2023 |
| Creators | Boafo, Christopher, Owusu, Richard Afriyie, Guiderdoni-Jourdain, Karine |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:article, info:eu-repo/semantics/article, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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