Italian firms in emerging markets: relationships and networks for internationalization in Africa

This paper concerns the process of internationalization of Italian small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Africa. The African continent is an interesting and valuable emerging target market for the international expansion of Italian companies. Using network theory on internationalization, this paper considers which actors play relevant roles in the penetration of the African market. We determine how the knowledge acquired could be used for growing within the African continent. This paper proposes findings emerging from a cross-case analysis of 18 SMEs and their internationalization strategies in Africa. The main results show that networks play a relevant role in the internationalization of Italian SMEs in Africa, but their constituent relationships are often built on contingencies rather than on deliberate strategies. Only some actors (such as business partners, NGOs, and destination-market institutions) are crucial for internationalization in Africa, while other actors, such as local and national Italian institutions, do not seem to be facilitators for this path of growth. Finally, our findings highlight how in Mediterranean Africa (and only rarely in sub-Saharan Africa), the knowledge acquired in one market is useful for growth in the closest countries to it. We conclude by proposing a taxonomy of potential networks in the African continent.