Exploring the Ecosystems of Social Enterprises in the Global South: A Systematic Literature Review
Social enterprises are increasingly promoted as mechanisms for addressing persistent socio-economic challenges in the Global South, particularly in contexts characterised by limited public sector capacity and uneven market development. Despite growing policy interest, there remains limited systematic understanding of how the broader ecosystems surrounding social enterprises shape their sustainability and developmental impact. This chapter examines the structural and institutional dynamics of social enterprise ecosystems in developing contexts, with particular reference to Sub-Saharan Africa, and develops an analytical model explaining how institutional conditions interact to enable or constrain organisational performance.
The study adopts a structured mixed analytical design based on a systematic review of academic and policy literature published between 2020 and 2025. Quantitative indicators from secondary sources provide descriptive insights into ecosystem scale, funding patterns, and spatial distribution, while qualitative evidence from case studies and policy analyses informs interpretation of governance arrangements and coordination mechanisms.
Findings indicate that social enterprise ecosystems in the Global South are frequently characterised by regulatory ambiguity, heavy dependence on short-term donor funding, limited human capital capacity, and uneven network coordination. These conditions contribute to fragmented support environments, restricted access to formal markets and finance, and constrained organisational sustainability and scaling. Ecosystems with clearer legal recognition frameworks, diversified financing mechanisms, and strong intermediary organisations demonstrate greater institutional participation and organisational resilience.
The chapter concludes that ecosystem effectiveness depends less on individual entrepreneurial capacity and more on institutional alignment across policy, finance, skills development, and intermediary structures. Strengthening social enterprise ecosystems therefore requires coherent regulatory frameworks, stable and diversified financing architectures, sustained investment in capacity development, and improved institutional coordination. The analytical model developed provides a basis for guiding future empirical research and informing policy design aimed at fostering inclusive and sustainable ecosystem development in the Global South.