Comprendre l’entrepreneuriat social à Kinshasa : biais cognitifs et relecture conceptuelle
Keywords:
Entrepreneuriat social, biais cognitifs, valeur sociale, organisations hybrides, informalité, Kinshasa
Abstract
Cet article conceptuel examine les limites de la compréhension de l’entrepreneuriat social dans les contextes urbains africains, en prenant Kinshasa comme cadre analytique. Il part du constat d’un décalage persistant entre la réalité des pratiques d’entrepreneuriat social et les représentations qu’en ont les étudiants universitaires. En mobilisant une analyse théorique abductive approfondie, l’étude identifie des biais cognitifs et des lacunes conceptuelles qui entravent leur appropriation. Elle propose une relecture contextualisée de l’entrepreneuriat social dans des environnements marqués par l’informalité et les défaillances institutionnelles, en le définissant comme un ensemble d’activités articulant valeur sociale, viabilité économique et ancrage communautaire. Elle met en évidence une typologie contextualisée des formes d’entrepreneuriat social à Kinshasa, illustrée par des cas locaux, et développe un cadre conceptuel intégrateur reliant dynamiques institutionnelles, formes organisationnelles et mécanismes cognitifs. Des implications pédagogiques et sociétales sont discutées afin de renforcer l’intégration académique et la pertinence pratique de l’entrepreneuriat social dans les universités africaines.
This conceptual paper examines the limitations in understanding social entrepreneurship in African urban contexts, using Kinshasa as an analytical setting. It starts from the observation of a persistent gap between the realities of social entrepreneurship practices and students’ representations of this form of entrepreneurship. Drawing on an in-depth abductive theoretical analysis, the study identifies cognitive biases and conceptual gaps that hinder its appropriation. It proposes a contextualized reappraisal of social entrepreneurship in environments characterized by informality and institutional voids, defining it as a set of hybrid activities combining social value creation, economic viability, and community embeddedness. The study develops a contextualized typology of social entrepreneurship in Kinshasa, illustrated through local cases, and advances an integrative conceptual framework linking institutional dynamics, organizational forms, and cognitive mechanisms. Pedagogical and societal implications are discussed to strengthen both the academic integration and practical relevance of social entrepreneurship in African universities.
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References
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20. Kerlin, J.A. (2010). A Comparative Analysis of the Global Emergence of Social Enterprise. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 21(2), 162–179. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-010-9126-8
21. Kolk, A., & Rivera-Santos, M. (2018). The State of Research on Africa in Business and Management: Insights From a Systematic Review of Key International Journals. Business & Society, 57(3), 415-436. https://doi.org/10.1177/0007650316629129
22. Ledoux, A. (2018). Pour un entrepreneuriat social alternatif en Afrique. Voie et stratégie pour un développement souverain et une société responsable, équitable et démocratisée. Dakar, Senegal : Nouvelles Editions Numériques Africaines.
23. Lelo Nzuzi, F. (2025). Kinshasa : Enjeux et défis urbains. Paris : L’Harmattan.
24. Littlewood, D., & Holt, D. (2018). Social entrepreneurship in South Africa: Exploring the influence of environment. Business & Society, 57, 525–561. https://doi.org/10.1177/0007650315613293
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26. Mair, J., Marti, I., & Ventresca, M.J. (2012). Building inclusive markets in rural Bangladesh: How intermediaries work institutional voids. Academy of Management Journal, 55(4), 819–850. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMJ.2010.0627
27. Mair, J., & Marti, I. (2006). Social entrepreneurship research: A source of explanation, prediction, and delight. Journal of World Business, 41, 36–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2005.09.002
28. Mair, J., & Noboa, E. (2006). Social entrepreneurship: How intentions to create a social venture are formed. In J. Mair, J. Robinson, & K. Hockerts, (Eds). Social Entrepreneurship (pp. 121-135). London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230625 655_8
29. Martin, R.L., & Osberg, S. (2007). Social entrepreneurship: The case for definition. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 28–39.
30. Mitchell, R.K., Busenitz, L., Lant, T., McDougall, P.P., Morse, E.A., & Smith, J.B. (2002). Toward a Theory of Entrepreneurial Cognition: Rethinking the People Side of Entrepreneurship Research. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 27(2), 93-104. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-8520.00001
31. Moss, T.W., Short, J.C., Payne, G.T., & Lumpkin, G.T. (2011). Dual Identities in Social Ventures: An Exploratory Study. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 35(4), 805-830. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2010.00372.x
32. Nilsson, S., Samuelsson, M., & Meyer, C. (2022). Social entrepreneurs’ use of spatial bricolage to create frugal innovation in a divided urban setting. Africa Journal of Management, 8(3), 298–323. https://doi.org/10.1080/23322373.2022.2071578
33. Radjou, N., & Prabhu, J. (2015). L’innovation frugale. Comment faire mieux avec moins. Paris : Diateino.
34. Rawhouser, H., Cummings, M., & Newbert, S.L. (2019). Social Impact Measurement: Current Approaches and Future Directions for Social Entrepreneurship Research. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 43(1), 82-115. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258717727718
35. Rivera-Santos, M., Holt, D., Littlewood, D., & Kolk, A. (2015). Social entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa. Academy of Management Perspectives, 29(1), 72–91. https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2013.0128
36. Santos, F.M. (2012). A positive theory of social entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Ethics, 111, 335–351. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1413-4
37. Seelos, C., & Mair, J. (2005). Social entrepreneurship: Creating new business models to serve the poor. Business Horizons, 48, 241–246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2004.11.006
38. Sen, A. (1999). Commodities and Capabilities. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
39. Sydow, A., Cannatelli, B.L., Giudici, A. & Molteni, M. (2022). Entrepreneurial Workaround Practices in Severe Institutional Voids: Evidence From Kenya. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 46(2), 331-367. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258720929891.
40. Smith, W.K., & Lewis, M.W. (2011). Toward a theory of paradox: A dynamic equilibrium model of organizing. Academy of Management Review, 36(2), 381–403. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.2011.59330958
41. Spigel, B., & Harrison, R. (2018). Toward a process theory of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 12, 151–168. https://doi.org/10.1002/sej.1268
42. Stephan, U., Patterson, M., Kelly, C., & Mair, J. (2016). Organizations driving positive social change: A review and an integrative framework of change processes. Journal of Management, 42, 1250–1281. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206316633268
43. Tadjudje, W. (2017). L’insuffisance du cadre juridique général du registre des sociétés coopératives en droit OHADA des sociétés coopératives. In D. Hiez & A. Kenmogne Simo (Eds.). Droit des coopératives OHADA (pp. 181-191). Presses universitaires d’Aix-Marseille.
44. Torraco, R.J. (2005). Writing integrative literature reviews: Guidelines and examples. Human Resource Development Review, 4(3), 356–367. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484305278283
45. Webb, J.W., Khoury, T.A., & Hitt, M.A. (2020). The influence of formal and informal institutional voids on entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 44(3), 504–526. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258719830310
46. Webb, J.W., Tihanyi, L., Ireland, R.D., & Sirmon, D.G. (2009). You say illegal, I say legitimate: Entrepreneurship in the informal economy. The Academy of Management Review, 34(3), 492–510. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.2009.40632826
2. Ansari, S., Munir, K., & Gregg, T. (2012). Impact at the “Bottom of the Pyramid”: The Role of Social Capital in Capability Development and Community Empowerment. Journal of Management Studies, 49, 813-842. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2012.01042.x
3. Austin, J., Stevenson, H., & Wei-Skillern, J. (2006). Social and commercial entrepreneurship: Same, different, or both? Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 30, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2006.00107.x
4. Bacq, S., Janssen, F., Sabbatucci, AS., & Wuillaume, A. (2025). The dark side of doing good: a guiding framework for advancing research on the negative outcomes of social entrepreneurship. Small Business Economics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-025-01094-3
5. Bacq, S., & Alt, E. (2018). Feeling capable and valued: A prosocial perspective on the link between empathy and social entrepreneurial intentions. Journal of Business Venturing, 33, 333-350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2018.01.004
6. Bacq, S., & Janssen, F. (2011). The multiple faces of social entrepreneurship: A review of definitional issues based on geographical and thematic criteria. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 23, 373–403. https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2011.577242
7. Baker, T., & Nelson, R.E. (2005). Creating something from nothing: Resource construction through entrepreneurial bricolage. Administrative Science Quarterly, 50, 329–366. https://doi.org/10.2189/asqu.2005.50.3.329
8. Battilana, J. (2018). Cracking the organizational challenge of pursuing joint social and financial goals: Social enterprise as a laboratory to understand hybrid organizing, Management, 21(4), 1278-1305.
9. Battilana, J., & Lee, M. (2014). Advancing research on hybrid organizing – Insights from the study of social enterprises. Academy of Management Annals, 8(1), 397–441. https://doi.org/10.1080/19416520.2014.893615
10. Besharov, M. (2022). Organizational Hybridity, Social Enterprise, and Social Innovation: Disentangling Concepts to Advance Theory and Practice. In A. Vaccaro & T. Ramus, (Eds). Social Innovation and Social Enterprise. Issues in Business Ethics (pp. 15-33). Switzerland: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-96596-9-2.
11. Cajaiba-Santana, G. (2014). Social innovation: Moving the field Forward. A Conceptual framework. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 82, 42-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2013.05.008
12. Dabic, M. (2022). Frugal innovations: A multidisciplinary review & agenda for future research, Journal of Business Research, 142, 914-929. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusrec.2022.01.032
13. Dacin, M.T., Dacin, P.A., & Tracey, P. (2011). Social entrepreneurship: A critique and future directions. Organization Science, 22, 1203–1213. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1100.0620
14. Defourny, J., & Nyssens, M. (2010). Conceptions of Social Enterprise and Social Entrepreneurship in Europe and the United States: Convergences and Divergences. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 1(1), 32–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/19420670903442053
15. Diallo, M. (2024). Agroécologie et entrepreneuriat social : Études de cas croisées au Sénégal et en Guinée. Éditions L’Harmattan.
16. Fischer, B., Guerrero, M., Guimón, J., & Schaeffer, P.R. (2021). Knowledge transfer for frugal innovation: where do entrepreneurial universities stand? Journal of Knowledge Management, 25(2), 360-379. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-01-2020-0040
17. Hiatt, S.R., Sine, W.D., & Tolbert, P.S. (2009). From Pabst to Pepsi: The deinstitutionalization of social practices and the emergence of entrepreneurial opportunities. Administrative Science Quarterly, 54, 635–667. https://doi.org/10.2189/asqu.2009.54.4.635
18. Janssen, F., Fayolle, A., & Wuillaume, A. (2018). Researching bricolage in social entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 30, 450–470. https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2017.1413769
19. Kakenza Kitumba, G., Makumole Kikomina, L., Kutunga Nijikap, R., Atukumbusa Tulengi, C., Kandolo Mbombo, H., & Mbwaka Mandudi, J. (2025). Psychological Capital and Proactive Coping as Strategic Resources: Extending the Resource-Based View in Informal Micro-Entrepreneurship. Open Journal of Business and Management, 13(6), 3993-4021. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojbm.2025.136218
20. Kerlin, J.A. (2010). A Comparative Analysis of the Global Emergence of Social Enterprise. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 21(2), 162–179. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-010-9126-8
21. Kolk, A., & Rivera-Santos, M. (2018). The State of Research on Africa in Business and Management: Insights From a Systematic Review of Key International Journals. Business & Society, 57(3), 415-436. https://doi.org/10.1177/0007650316629129
22. Ledoux, A. (2018). Pour un entrepreneuriat social alternatif en Afrique. Voie et stratégie pour un développement souverain et une société responsable, équitable et démocratisée. Dakar, Senegal : Nouvelles Editions Numériques Africaines.
23. Lelo Nzuzi, F. (2025). Kinshasa : Enjeux et défis urbains. Paris : L’Harmattan.
24. Littlewood, D., & Holt, D. (2018). Social entrepreneurship in South Africa: Exploring the influence of environment. Business & Society, 57, 525–561. https://doi.org/10.1177/0007650315613293
25. Lumpkin, G.T., & Bacq, S. (2019). Civic wealth creation: A new view of stakeholder engagement and societal impact. Academy of Management Perspectives, 33, 383–404. https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2017.0060
26. Mair, J., Marti, I., & Ventresca, M.J. (2012). Building inclusive markets in rural Bangladesh: How intermediaries work institutional voids. Academy of Management Journal, 55(4), 819–850. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMJ.2010.0627
27. Mair, J., & Marti, I. (2006). Social entrepreneurship research: A source of explanation, prediction, and delight. Journal of World Business, 41, 36–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2005.09.002
28. Mair, J., & Noboa, E. (2006). Social entrepreneurship: How intentions to create a social venture are formed. In J. Mair, J. Robinson, & K. Hockerts, (Eds). Social Entrepreneurship (pp. 121-135). London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230625 655_8
29. Martin, R.L., & Osberg, S. (2007). Social entrepreneurship: The case for definition. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 28–39.
30. Mitchell, R.K., Busenitz, L., Lant, T., McDougall, P.P., Morse, E.A., & Smith, J.B. (2002). Toward a Theory of Entrepreneurial Cognition: Rethinking the People Side of Entrepreneurship Research. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 27(2), 93-104. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-8520.00001
31. Moss, T.W., Short, J.C., Payne, G.T., & Lumpkin, G.T. (2011). Dual Identities in Social Ventures: An Exploratory Study. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 35(4), 805-830. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2010.00372.x
32. Nilsson, S., Samuelsson, M., & Meyer, C. (2022). Social entrepreneurs’ use of spatial bricolage to create frugal innovation in a divided urban setting. Africa Journal of Management, 8(3), 298–323. https://doi.org/10.1080/23322373.2022.2071578
33. Radjou, N., & Prabhu, J. (2015). L’innovation frugale. Comment faire mieux avec moins. Paris : Diateino.
34. Rawhouser, H., Cummings, M., & Newbert, S.L. (2019). Social Impact Measurement: Current Approaches and Future Directions for Social Entrepreneurship Research. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 43(1), 82-115. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258717727718
35. Rivera-Santos, M., Holt, D., Littlewood, D., & Kolk, A. (2015). Social entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa. Academy of Management Perspectives, 29(1), 72–91. https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2013.0128
36. Santos, F.M. (2012). A positive theory of social entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Ethics, 111, 335–351. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1413-4
37. Seelos, C., & Mair, J. (2005). Social entrepreneurship: Creating new business models to serve the poor. Business Horizons, 48, 241–246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2004.11.006
38. Sen, A. (1999). Commodities and Capabilities. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
39. Sydow, A., Cannatelli, B.L., Giudici, A. & Molteni, M. (2022). Entrepreneurial Workaround Practices in Severe Institutional Voids: Evidence From Kenya. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 46(2), 331-367. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258720929891.
40. Smith, W.K., & Lewis, M.W. (2011). Toward a theory of paradox: A dynamic equilibrium model of organizing. Academy of Management Review, 36(2), 381–403. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.2011.59330958
41. Spigel, B., & Harrison, R. (2018). Toward a process theory of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 12, 151–168. https://doi.org/10.1002/sej.1268
42. Stephan, U., Patterson, M., Kelly, C., & Mair, J. (2016). Organizations driving positive social change: A review and an integrative framework of change processes. Journal of Management, 42, 1250–1281. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206316633268
43. Tadjudje, W. (2017). L’insuffisance du cadre juridique général du registre des sociétés coopératives en droit OHADA des sociétés coopératives. In D. Hiez & A. Kenmogne Simo (Eds.). Droit des coopératives OHADA (pp. 181-191). Presses universitaires d’Aix-Marseille.
44. Torraco, R.J. (2005). Writing integrative literature reviews: Guidelines and examples. Human Resource Development Review, 4(3), 356–367. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484305278283
45. Webb, J.W., Khoury, T.A., & Hitt, M.A. (2020). The influence of formal and informal institutional voids on entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 44(3), 504–526. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258719830310
46. Webb, J.W., Tihanyi, L., Ireland, R.D., & Sirmon, D.G. (2009). You say illegal, I say legitimate: Entrepreneurship in the informal economy. The Academy of Management Review, 34(3), 492–510. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.2009.40632826
Published
2026-05-31
How to Cite
Kakenza Kitumba, G., Kandolo Mbombo, H., Kimvula Ya Malosa, P., & Mbutamuntu Lwanga, C. (2026). Comprendre l’entrepreneuriat social à Kinshasa : biais cognitifs et relecture conceptuelle. European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 22(13), 126. https://doi.org/10.19044/esj.2026.v22n13p126
Section
ESJ Social Sciences
Copyright (c) 2026 Guylord Kakenza Kitumba, Henri Kandolo Mbombo, Patience Kimvula Ya Malosa, Charles Mbutamuntu Lwanga
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
