Digital adoption in micro and small enterprise clusters: a dependency theory study in Kenya

The adoption of digital technology is phenomenally sweeping across different industries and countries in the world (Ndemo & Weiss, 2017; Friederici, 2018; Valdeolmillos, Mezquita, Gonzalez-Briones, Prieto, & Corchado, 2019), and entrepreneurs across different spheres of life have extensively embraced the use of technology (Ndemo & Weiss, 2017). While many nations consider digital adoption as the highway to achieving some of their prosperity goals (World Bank, 2018), there is still a need to validate its effects across the micro and small enterprises segment (MSEs). This need is valid in the context of developing and emerging nations (Nambisan, 2017; Sydow, Sunny, & Coffman, 2020; Sottini, Ciambotti & Littlewood, 2022; Gerli & Whalley, Chapter 15 in this handbook). As Africa debuts into the digital space, the more dominant digital economies are expected to adopt, adapt, create, and disperse technological innovations across the various societies (Ndemo & Weiss, 2017). The use of digital technology ranges from the formal to the informal sector (Sydow et al., 2020) and straddles different industries in the economy (Graham, 2019). The adoption of digital technology has ranged from opportunity identification, idea generation, marketing and goes as far as the final payment of sales proceeds (Nambisan, 2017; van der Westhuizen & Goyayi, 2020). Has the adoption of digital technology delivered the expected dividends in Africa?