Inter-Organisational Collaborations Within Emerging Sustainable Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: The Case of Lagos, Nigeria

This exploratory study was to investigate the interests of sustainable key actors within an emerging sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem (SEE). It examines how their interests influence inter-organisational collaboration within an emerging SEE. The context is Nigeria, and as a third-world country with growing issues due to climate change, the experience in Nigeria would be largely generalisable with other developing countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. In recent times, awareness of sustainable practices and their impact on the country has grown, with considerable focus on environmental conservation. The methodology employed is qualitative, utilising ethnography and semi-structured interviews. The ethnography study was conducted in an emerging SEE in Nigeria with the help of a gatekeeper organisation, a green hub, for access into the ecosystem. The empirical work was in two phases: the first was a four-month participant observation and the second phase was the semi-structured interviewing of about 30 participants. Considering the recent pandemic crisis, the methodology combined both offline and virtual means of interactions. The participants included sustainability entrepreneurs, managers and leaders of incubators, financial institutions, educational institutions, and government agencies. The observation field notes and interview transcripts were analysed through Reflective Thematic Analysis with the use of Nvivo software. Specific to the context of the study, key findings from the analysis that respond to the research questions identify individual or shared interests of the key actors. Social impact, access to finance and legitimacy were interests that eventually spurred active inter-organisational collaborations towards the circular economy in a developing country like Nigeria. Insights into developing potential of Indigenous influenced circular economy practices, aided by collaboration were also derived. The study aims to contribute to policy and practice on indigenous systemic approaches to sustainable development and climate action, through conceptual contribution on the subject area of an emerging SEE from a Sub-Saharan African country.