10th U6+ Consortium of African Universities International Conference

The Fifth Industrial Revolution (5IR) reopens a longstanding management question in a new
technological setting: how can firms employ new technologies while preserving the social and
institutional foundations on which productive activity depends? For African economies, the
spread of digital tools is only one part of the answer. Their value depends on how far they can be
joined to knowledge already held within communities and on whether relationships with external
organisations add to local learning and productive discretion. This paper examines digital
entrepreneurship from that perspective. It considers the contribution of universities, firms, public
agencies, development organisations, diaspora networks, investors and international research
partners to entrepreneurial learning, technology transfer, finance, knowledge exchange and
market access. Particular attention is given to what remains after collaboration has produced its
immediate outputs. A partnership is developmentally useful when African organisations retain
stronger capabilities, greater control over knowledge and a larger role in subsequent
innovation. On the basis of scholarship on digital entrepreneurship, indigenous knowledge,
inclusive innovation, collaboration and sustainable development, the paper develops an
integrated framework. Digital entrepreneurship and indigenous knowledge are treated as
different but complementary knowledge resources; inclusive innovation is the process through
which those resources are combined in locally useful solutions; and collaboration and
international partnerships shape the conditions under which such solutions contribute to
sustainable enterprise development. The argument is Africa-centred without implying economic
or intellectual isolation. It connects technological advance with cultural relevance, institutional
cooperation, participation and the distribution of value. Sustainable enterprise development
therefore depends not only on access to digital technology, but also on how knowledge, finance
and innovation relationships are organised and governed.