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Technology Entrepreneurs: Surviving the Valley of Death in the Nigerian Innovation Ecosystem

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The Palgrave Handbook of African Entrepreneurship

Abstract

Technology entrepreneurship has been the bedrock of the world’s creative economies. It has disrupted the norms and channelled a new course for the future of innovation. However, technology entrepreneurs face numerous challenges in transforming their ideas into profitable products. Hence, many enterprises fail to survive the proverbial valley of death. This chapter examines the factors responsible for the low rate of survival of technology enterprises in the Nigerian innovation ecosystem. This study is a Practitioner Expository Research with a Complementary Research Method. Guided interviews were conducted with ten randomly selected technology entrepreneurs in 5 industries. The Global Innovation Index was also consulted for the innovation ranking of Nigeria between 2007 and 2020. The result revealed Nigeria’s inconsistent rise and fall in the Global Innovation Ranking except for three years’ stability maintained between 2009 and 2011. The study concluded by making policy recommendations for the government, academia and technology businesses.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. African Leadership University, Kigali, Rwanda

    Oluwaseun David Adepoju

Authors
  1. Oluwaseun David Adepoju
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Correspondence to Oluwaseun David Adepoju .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management & Entrepreneurship, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK

    Oluwaseun Kolade

  2. Department of Management & Entrepreneurship, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK

    David Rae

  3. De Montfort University, Leicester, UK

    Demola Obembe

  4. De Montfort University, Leicester, UK

    Kassa Woldesenbet Beta

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Adepoju, O.D. (2022). Technology Entrepreneurs: Surviving the Valley of Death in the Nigerian Innovation Ecosystem. In: Kolade, O., Rae, D., Obembe, D., Woldesenbet Beta, K. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of African Entrepreneurship. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75894-3_14

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