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Innovation Hubs in Africa: What Do They Really Do for Digital Entrepreneurs?

Author: Friederici, N.
Published in: N. D. Taura, E. Bolat, & N. O. Madichie (Eds.), Digital Entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges, Opportunities and Prospects (pp. 9-28). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
Year: 2019
Type: Book contributions and chapters

This chapter took a step back from enthusiastically led practitioner debates about digital entrepreneurship and innovation hub organizations in Africa and sought to examine the purpose of hubs in the eyes of entrepreneurs. The study thereby offered a grounded perspective on what is otherwise a conversation marked by grand aspirations, conceptualizations, self-promotion, and at times erratic lines of argumentation. Altogether, the chapter maintained that hubs represent a valuable and promising addition to African digital entrepreneurship, but also that they need to take seriously criticisms of their lack of effectiveness, exclusionary tendencies, and wastefulness. The study thus ultimately highlighted both the potentials and limitations of hubs.

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Nicolas Friederici, Dr.

Former Associated Researcher: Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Society



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