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Introduction
Multi-racial and multi-ethnic societies, of which every African society has in abundance, deal with the dilemma of identity. In 2011, the Kwame Nkrumah International Conference reiterated with urgency the Nkrumian “African personality, African identity and African Unity” (Dei, 2011, p. 42). More than half a century after Nkrumah’s death, pleas for “the liberation and unity of the African race” (Quist-Adade and Chiang, 2011, p. 10), for “an Afrocentric reality for Africans” (Kah, 2012, p. 26), for “the radical reclaiming of an authentic African identity” (Dei, 2011, pp. 41, 44) and for the implementation of “socialism [as] the sure road to Africa’s development” (Dodoo, 2011, p. 71) still frame a paradigm for Africa’s future (Quist-Adade and Chiang, 2011). Dei (2011), for example, argues that “[…] we must seek African-centred praxis as a site of epistemological location on its own terms […]”. This discourse links the economic development of Africa to its identity, specifically its Afro-centric identity as a mobilising agent. While Africa’s economy has performed impressively since the beginning of the 21st century, it still requires sustainable economic growth. Such demands place renewed emphasis on Africa’s human resources to direct and realise a sustained growth trajectory. In turn, this development demands renewed attention on the managerial capabilities of African leadership (Kiggundu, 2002; Nkomo, 2011; Nkomo et al., 2015; Acquaah and Kiggundu, 2017). Inextricably linked to the development debate is, thus, the identity of the managers as agents of growth, development and prosperity in Africa.
Despite the centrality of identity, an African business enterprise displays similar diversity as business operations worldwide. Business enterprises in Africa are diverse in organisation, management structure and strategy. A sound comprehension of the complexity of business development in Africa recognises the complex and dynamic manner in which entrepreneurs in Africa have borrowed from and integrated their operations into indigenous and non-indigenous global business practices (Marsden, 1992; Forrest, 1994; Verhoef, 2017; Akinyoade et al., 2017). Since the early 1990s, such integrative practices have expanded beyond the confines of national states, as African governments gradually embraced aspects of the liberal market economy. In a challenging competitive market environment, African entrepreneurs took advantage of market opportunities. This mandated adaptation and innovation of entrepreneurial activities to advance enterprise and society. To sustain this...