African economies are undergoing significant structural transformation, transitioning from agriculture to manufacturing, services, and technology-driven industries. Driven by urbanization, technological innovation, and global trade, this shift offers opportunities for sustainable growth but faces challenges such as infrastructure gaps and institutional hurdles. This paper examines the dynamics of structural change in 54 African countries, focusing on the roles of technology, talent, and tourism. Using World Bank data, factor and cluster analyses reveal five latent components: structural conditions, public sector capacities, dynamic conditions, urbanization, and growth. The analysis categorizes countries into six clusters, from Developing Economies to African Powerhouses. The findings emphasize the critical role of technology in boosting productivity, the importance of talent development through education and workforce integration, and the potential of sustainable tourism to drive transformation. This research provides a comprehensive framework for understanding Africa’s structural transformation, offering actionable insights to address disparities and promote equitable development across the continent.

Purpose: The paper describes patterns of study on innovation in the regional economic resilience literature regarding methods and findings.Design/methodology/approach: This study is a descriptive one and it uses, as a method, the scoping review based on Scopus and Web of Science databases. Forty-eight theoretical-empirical papers were thematically coded, and analyses were conducted using R packages and MaxQDA.Findings: Innovation has been used narrowly in the regional resilience literature, considering the variables, the types of shocks and the analyzed loci. From the sampled papers, this study suggests that, depending on the operationalization, the addressed relationship can be positive or negative, which still needs further investigation. In addition, the study identified two lines of research. The first, characterized by quantitative research, secondary sources and multivariate analyses, focuses on testing predictive regional resilience models based on innovation-related variables. The second, characterized by qualitative or multi-method approaches, is more concerned with explaining the knowledge accumulation and the learning capacity related to regional innovation.Research limitations/implications: The paper’s findings show a restricted view of the innovation–resilience relationship. Although this study does not present a meta-analysis, it reveals gaps for future research. Some suggestions can be highlighted, such as (1) expanding knowledge about innovation as a predictor of resilience, (2) the theoretical development of this relationship to guide empirical investigations and (3) studies that consider the meso or micro level, approaching the role of actors in fostering innovation in the regional resilience process.Originality/value: This paper fulfills an identified need to investigate how innovation has been operationalized in regional resilience empirical research.

Objective: We have analyzed Brazil’s initial COVID-19 combat actions by the regional innovation ecosystem actors.Methodology/approach: This is a descriptive and qualitative study using documentary research. In total, 471 reports collected via web scraping were submitted to content analysis (using a codebook and intercoder test) and correspondence analysis.Originality/relevance: From an innovation ecosystem perspective, this study fulfills an identified need to understand how different actors have proposed initial solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic, considering different geographic regions.Main results: According to the seminal literature, in the more economically and socially favored regions, the government-industry dyadic model was corroborated, while in the less favored regions, the most innovative actors were universities and society. Our results have not shown the quintuple helix’s performance, which leads us to ponder the use of this model in crises. Furthermore, although the quadruple helix model was observed in our analyses, in the Brazilian geographic regions the helices were not designed in a transversal way.Theoretical contributions: We propose that the geography of a pandemic combat occurs unevenly by the innovation ecosystem actors. Moreover, the helices ordering refers to the theoretical development process and not to the complementarity of the role between actors.Practical implications: This article highlights the need for integrated management of the innovation ecosystem’s initial actions in a pandemic, preventing regions from being neglected, especially those with lower levels of wealth or quality of life.

Objetivo: Este estudo tem como objetivo explorar a relação entre as práticas ESG e a resiliência organizacional em cooperativas de crédito. Design/metodologia/abordagem: Utilizando uma abordagem qualitativa, esta pesquisa documental examina os relatórios anuais de sustentabilidade e responsabilidade social publicados pelas cooperativas Sicredi e Unicred entre, 2015 e 2021, por meio de uma análise temática. Resultados: Ambas as cooperativas investigadas buscaram evidenciar o compromisso com os aspectos ESG, seja por meio de práticas proativas ou da conformidade com normativas, ou resoluções. A análise realizada também destacou a introdução de inovações e a melhoria de desempenho, mesmo durante a crise pandêmica de COVID-19. Implicações: Os resultados indicam que as práticas ESG estão relacionadas à resiliência organizacional de cooperativas de créditos, em termos de desempenho e de inovação. Limitações: Apesar de uma influência positiva entre práticas ESG e resiliência organizacional das cooperativas ser conjecturada, a relação não foi testada, o que abre caminhos para pesquisas futuras. Originalidade/valor: Em um cenário marcado por crises, surgem questões sobre a interação entre as práticas ESG e a resiliência das organizações. Ao mesmo tempo, as cooperativas de crédito ganham cada vez mais espaço e relevância no sistema financeiro nacional, aderindo ao princípio social de apoio à comunidade onde operam.

Objetivo: Analisar os efeitos macroeconômicos na relação entre as características do Conselho de Administração e o desempenho Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG). Método/abordagem: Realizou-se pesquisa descritiva, documental com abordagem quantitativa por meio da Regressão Hierárquica. A amostra da pesquisa corresponde às empresas listadas e localizadas nos países emergentes das Américas, entre 2018 e 2021. Os dados secundários referentes às empresas foram extraídos da Refinitiv Eikon®, enquanto os macroeconômicos do The World Bank. Principais Resultados: O Tamanho do Conselho e a Governança Corporativa estão relacionados positivamente com o ESG, indicando que essas variáveis ajudam as empresas a alinharem o comportamento, conforme a pressão dos stakeholders, em direção ao fortalecimento de práticas ESG. Ao considerar os efeitos macroeconômicos, além da inflação impactar de forma positiva no ESG, foi possível evidenciar a moderação dessa variável na relação entre Tamanho do Conselho e Governança Corporativa. Contribuições teóricas/práticas/sociais: Este artigo contribui ao analisar o contexto macro de relações comerciais e econômicas de países que representam mercados emergentes, e ao trazer novos insights de como as variações da macroeconomia podem ser determinantes para a relação entre características do Conselho de Administração e o desempenho ESG. Originalidade/relevância: Em países de menor inflação, um conselho maior é benéfico ao ESG. Por outro lado, em países com maior inflação, um conselho grande é prejudicial ao ESG. Ademais, as empresas com um alto indicador de Governança Corporativa possuem um maior ESG, sendo que, em média, um menor nível de inflação potencializa esse benefício.

is study examines innovation as a shock reaction in the process of regional economic resilience, focusing on a footwear industrial district in southern Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic. e results show that innovation, a mechanism of adaptability, emerged in the industrial district not only to support economic recovery, but also to mitigate the adverse effects. Firms implemented novel marketing and sales processes, and some also had to change their information and communication systems or organisational structure to support e-commerce. As such, this study highlights the influence of adaptability on economic resistance.