Across Africa, social enterprises are tackling urgent social, economic and environmental challenges. Yet much of what we know about social entrepreneurship comes from the ‘global north’, leaving many African experiences under-represented in academic research.
“It was this that we wanted to change,” recalls Kerryn Krige. “Frederik and I had been talking for years about how to build scholarly bridges across African contexts.” The challenge was not simply producing another study. Researchers first needed ways to connect, collaborate and learn from one another.
The first step was ANSES, the African Network of Social Entrepreneurship Scholars, which Kerryn had co-founded in 2017. Through the network, researchers working across different African contexts could find one another and begin collaborating. “We had an idea for a proposal, a network to do it through, but what we didn’t know was what we were going to do, and with whom,” Kerryn says. “So we put out a call – and that’s how we connected with Souléïmane.”
“When I saw the call for collaboration, I did not hesitate for a moment. I immediately saw an opportunity to connect the growing body of knowledge on social entrepreneurship in Africa with the specific realities of Benin,” says Souléïmane A. Adekambi.
It is this conversation that became RECAPES-B. Support from Belgian funder ARES followed and helped transform the idea into a reality and partnership between the University of Parakou, ICHEC Brussels Management School and the London School of Economics.
“ARES understood that this was not simply about applying a research framework,” says Frederik Claeyé. “They saw the importance of building African scholarship, networks and connections while using a methodology that had already been tested internationally.”
RECAPES-B draws on the internationally recognised ICSEM methodology, developed by the EMES research network. The original study brought together more than 200 researchers to examine social enterprise in 60 countries. Yet only two African countries were included. By drawing on this established framework, RECAPES-B connects Benin to the wider international conversation on social enterprise while remaining grounded in local realities and the broader African context.
Before research, listening
The team recruited researcher Soulé Adechian. Our first step together was to listen to researchers in Benin. We heard recurring concerns: limited funding and infrastructure, difficulty accessing reliable data, language barriers and methodological challenges. These conversations showed that occasional workshops would not be enough. Researchers also needed relationships, mentorship and opportunities to apply new skills.
In October 2025, a national webinar was held to bring Benin scholars together to discuss the state of social entrepreneurship research.
“What surprised us was how many researchers felt they were alone,” recalls Soulé Adechian. “The webinar showed that there was already a community. It simply hadn’t been connected yet.”
From training to a research community
The needs identified through the webinar shaped the next stage. After introductory online sessions, nineteen doctoral students, researchers and academics joined an intensive residential workshop in Djougou in January 2026. The workshop combined practical exercises, group work and reflection, giving researchers time to test ideas, ask questions and build relationships.
Training then moved into research. Master’s students developed projects on social entrepreneurship in Benin, while Soulé Adechian began his review of social entrepreneurship research across West Africa.
What we have learnt so far
Three lessons stand out. First, online engagement is useful and bridges distance, but trust and collaboration develop differently when people work together in person. Second, training is valuable when it leads to mentorship, research and continued peer exchange. Third, international methodologies can help African research enter wider conversations when they are adapted to local realities.
Underlying all three is a larger insight: networks are infrastructure. They connect researchers, make collaboration possible and help locally grounded knowledge travel.
The work continues
RECAPES-B began with an idea and an evidence gap, but addressing that gap required more than another study. It required relationships through which questions are shaped, methods adapted and knowledge shared. The project’s most enduring result may therefore be not a publication, but a network of people able to keep researching these questions together.
Note: This publication presents the results of research obtained in the framework of the RECAPES-B: Capacity building for research in social entrepreneurship in Benin project, supported by ARES with funding from the Belgian Development Cooperation. You can find out more here
