SME finance and the construction of value in Rwanda

Purpose This article explores how entrepreneurs, banks, the government and alternative lending respond to finance gaps for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME). This article considers valuation as a sociological construct where actors use different calculative devices, forming an assemblage that partly positions valuation of entrepreneurial finance as a contested and socially constructed process. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the concept of ‘calculative devices’, the study articulates discursive institutional practices embedded within SME lending. This case study draws on analyses of 30 semi-structured interviews and archival data, government reports, and newspaper articles. Findings The study identified three triggers in Rwanda that were rooted in the informal and unincorporated nature of the SME governance structure; the lack of capacity for SME owners to manage their own projects; and normalising language around collateral requirements that marginalised the realities of SMEs; contributing to stagnation for SME finance. Practical implications The research provides direction for understanding how calculative devices create new forms of valuation of entrepreneurship in developing countries, particularly when human and non-human actors come together in an assemblage. The study calls for further research to demonstrate the embedded power of valuation practices and the performance of value in entrepreneurial finance. Originality/value The study brings new findings to the market creation literature by extending the notion of distributive calculative agency to SME finance. The study mobilises theory to interpret how discursive institutional practices are embedded within a country’s finance infrastructure, yielding unintended consequences for SME growth

The multistakeholder model of Internet governance, ICANN, and business stakeholders - practices of hegemonic power

This research examines the relationship between the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and three groups of business stakeholders who participate in the multistakeholder model of Internet governance. The authors argue that ICANN’s use of ‘participatory evangelism’ serves as a device for the production of hegemonic power within the Internet governance model. By performing textual linguistic analysis on archival transcripts of triannual meetings from 2012 until 2016, the study operationalises hegemony as a dependent variable by linking stakeholder participation to the Internet governance policy-making agenda. By first identifying a ‘master variable’ that characterises the most general understanding of the data, statistical methods were used to construct a model with hegemony as a response variable. Furthermore, Analysis of Variance and Panel Data models were applied to measure variation in tone across the three groups of business stakeholders to understand how hegemony is produced. Our findings show that by using language that expresses hesitation and uncertainty, but at the same time is resolute with less complex discourses, the business sector stakeholders contribute to the production of hegemony that would theoretically benefit ICANN. This research underscores the importance of language and discourse as a driver of power within the Internet Governance

Exploring the tensions and incongruities of Internet governance in Africa

Drawing on a series of in-depth interviews and statistical analysis of policy reports and documents, this paper examines how African nation states interact with Internet governance at the international level. There is a dominant paradigm at work that values the multistakeholder approach and encourages dialogue and equal representation. While, in principle, this model has developed for the good of all participating countries, we illuminate tensions and incongruities experienced by African nation states. We use three analytical frames that focus on the way countries are measured and ranked as ICT ready - what we refer to as accumulating evaluative value, the forms of resistance that emerge in order to counter the universalising values of Internet governance, and the way spatial geographies of internet use and access are mapped out politically. We draw attention to a paradox of stakeholder participation arguing that African nations experience continual disempowerment and alienation in their compliance with international directives

Local information services in medellin: technology, institutions, communities and power

This article examines the politics of technology and information by exploring a case study of local information service provision in Medellin, Colombia. Local Information Service (LIS) is defined as a community centre where information deemed relevant to local communities is generated, stored, organized and disseminated through print and digital means. Using a social construction of technology approach, the article attempts to deconstruct the implementation and delivery of LIS in Medellin, Colombia and analyse how empowering and disempowering discourses form through relationships between institutions and citizens laden with social and economic inequality. The article analyses the development and deployment of this artefact and positions LIS as a socio-technical system, embedded with political, social, cultural, and economic values. We describe the unintended consequences of this deployment through a multilevel perspective of the head organisation and the smaller 195 local institutions that support it. The article challenges and operationalises the social construction of ‘local’ in local information by highlighting practices of social exclusion and resistance embedded within the design of the service. This case provides a vantage point from which to examine how relevant social groups interpret and engage with technological devices and the implications of this for the communities the device is intended to serve

A report on the global effects of internet fragmentation

The Internet since its conception has been revolutionizing the way people think, do business and communicate (FCC, 2013). Hostility to the current multistakeholder Internet governance model in the geopolitical environment has been a significant contributor to the reconfiguration of the Internet’s openness. A potential result of these tensions is Internet fragmentation (Chadwick, 2009; BBC, 2005; Arthur, 2012). Internet fragmentation is a rising concern globally mainly due to issues regarding the control of the Internet. This topic is being discussed at international summits and conferences, and a possible fragmentation of the Internet is becoming a reality. Governments, global businesses and other stakeholders have diverse and conflicting viewpoints on how the Internet should be governed. The main governing body of the Internet, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), has raised awareness of this issue in order to protect this open source of free flowing information. They have commissioned a team of students from the University of Greenwich in the MA/MBA International Business programme to conduct exploratory research to understand the potential impact of Internet fragmentation on the current structure of stakeholder authority. This project consists of four parts: An analysis of the social and political effects of fragmentation; an analysis of the effects of fragmentation on international trade through blockmodeling; Internet Fragmentation and its influence on global trade through interpretive analysis; and an assessment of the impact of Internet fragmentation on international business operations

Chinese investment in the Sierra Leone telecommunications sector: international financial institutions, neoliberalism and organisational fields

The article investigates the relationship between the Sierra Leonean government and international financial institutions in financial lending for the development of the country’s telecommunications infrastructure. The authors address two interrelated topics: 1) efforts by African countries to free themselves from Western-dominated programmes of neoliberal reform exercised through lending agreements; 2) an evolving economic relationship between African countries and China, particularly with respect to an emerging form of unequal exchange, and a false sense of empowerment in negotiation by African countries. Using the organisational field as a conceptual framework in the context of neoliberalism, the authors examine the power dynamics between foreign capital and Sierra Leone to understand how these relationships are affected and transformed by the availability of China as an alternative source of investment. They find evidence to support the coexistence and interdependency of multiple organisational fields that are affected by field-level changes yielding social, political and economic consequences for all the actors

Entrepreneurial financing: how global and regional export intentions affect financial and non-financial choices for small and midsized enterprises in low-income countries

Purpose: The study explores how the intention to export affects financing and non-financing variables for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in a low-income country (LIC). The objectives of this study are (1) to discern between regional and global exporting and (2) to evaluate its policy-making implications. Design/methodology/approach: Primary survey data were collected from 330 Rwandan SMEs and were analysed using ordered logistic models as an application of the Expectation-Maximisation Iterating Algorithm, which was tested for robustness using a Sampling Model Variation. Results: Alternative sources of finance are the predominant choice to finance the intention to export within and outside Africa. As the scope of export intentions broadened from regional to global, there was a shift in preferences from less formal to more formal lending technologies, moving from methods like factoring to lines of credit. Moreover, reliance on bank officers became more significant, with increasing marginal effects. Finally, the study determined that government financing schemes were not relevant for SMEs pursuing either regional or global exporting. Originality: This study accentuates how export distance alters SME financing priorities. The results also contribute to understanding how the value of relationship lending changes when less familiar markets (i.e. global exporting) are the objective. Moreover, the study offers a new perspective on how institutional voids affect entrepreneurial financing decisions in LICs. Implications: While alternative sources of finance predominate the export intentions of Rwandan SMEs, establishing a robust banking relationship becomes crucial for global exporting. Despite this implication, the intention to export should prompt more transparent communication regarding government financial support programs. There is an opportunity for increased usage of relationship lending to customise support for SMEs involved in exporting, benefiting both the private and public sectors

All the way from … authenticity and distance in world music production

World music and the narratives it produces are at the very centre of a formerly transnational production and consumption process. However, the shortened distance between the sites of production and consumption of this good, brought on by migration and greater participation, has created a dilemma for the UK-based artists who perform it: how to maintain authenticity without the added value of ‘distance’. Therefore, the aim of this article is to examine the ways in which musicians and other participants attempt to overcome this problem and in doing so (re)-construct particular aspects of their identity. Rather than being just another critique on authenticity, this article uses distance as an organizing concept in understanding the challenges facing world music production in the UK

The impact of digital technology usage on economic growth in Africa

This study analyses the impact of the use of digital technology on economic growth for 39 African countries from 2012 to 2016. This analysis applies a system GMM estimator to understand the extent to which the usage of digital technology facilitates growth using a measure of digitalisation from the Networked Readiness Index. Unlike previous research, we distinguish between the impact of individual, business, and government ICT usage on growth and show that only individual usage has a positive impact. Furthermore, a disaggregated analysis of the types of usage reveals that two indicators, social media and the importance of ICTs to government vision, are significant for growth